Prime minister’s ouster divides Pakistan
‘Politically turbulent’ times forecast after parliament deposes leader Imran Khan.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The ouster of Prime Minister Imran Khan in a parliamentary no-confidence vote early Sunday set Pakistan on an uncertain political path, with his supporters taking to the streets in protest and the political opposition preparing to install his replacement.
Tens of thousands of Khan’s supporters, mostly young people, marched in cities across Pakistan, waving party flags and vowing support.
In the southern Arabian Sea port city of Karachi, more than 20,000 shouted slogans promising Khan’s return to power. In the capital, Islamabad, lights from thousands of supporters illuminated the night sky as Khan made his way through the crowd atop a brightly colored truck.
Khan was brought down after a day of drama and often vitriolic remarks. His supporters accused the U.S. of orchestrating his ouster, and his party walked out of parliament shortly before the vote. In the end, 174 members of the 342-seat parliament voted to depose him, two more than the required simple majority.
Khan’s successor is to be elected and sworn in by parliament on Monday.
The leading contender is Shahbaz Sharif, a brother of disgraced former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Shahbaz Sharif heads the largest party in a diverse alliance of opposition factions that span the spectrum from the left to radically religious.
Khan’s nominee for prime minister will be his foreign minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi.
In an interview on a local television channel, Qureshi said the party was still debating whether its lawmakers will resign from parliament after the vote for prime minister is taken.
Khan’s ouster came amid his cooling relations with the military and an economy struggling with high inflation and a plummeting Pakistani rupee. The opposition has accused Khan’s government of economic mismanagement.
Khan has claimed that the U.S. worked behind the
scenes to bring him down, purportedly because of displeasure over his independent foreign policy choices, which often favor China and Russia. He has occasionally defied the U.S. and stridently criticized its post-9/11 war on terror. Khan said Americans were disturbed by his meeting in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Feb. 24, at the start of the war in Ukraine.
The U.S. State Department has denied Khan’s allegations.
Elizabeth Threlkeld, a Pakistan expert at the U.S.based Stimson Center, said that even as prime minister, Khan often played the role of opposition leader.
“His removal would see him to a role he knows well, armed with a narrative of victimhood from unfounded claims of international interference,” she said. “His base will remain loyal, though I expect both his controversial attempt to remain in power and reduced military backing will lose him lesscommitted supporters.”
Khan appears to have few options going forward. General elections are not scheduled before August 2023; even if the new prime minister favors early elections, they would likely not happen before October. The Pakistan Election Commission last week told the Supreme Court it had to finish realigning constituencies in line with the results of a 2017 census before elections could be held.
In the aftermath of Sunday’s vote, stacks of steel containers blocked main roads leading to parliament and to the diplomatic enclave in Islamabad. Khan called on his supporters to gather late Sunday, after the end of the dawn-to-dusk fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Michael Kugelman, deputy director of the Asia Program at the Washingtonbased Wilson Center, predicted bumpy times ahead.
“Khan’s defeat would also leave Pakistan a bitterly partisan and divided place. He has not only intensified political rivalries, he has also defied and alienated key entities like the army chief and Pakistan’s foreign office,” Kugelman said. “It will take time for the country to pick up the pieces, and the coming months will be politically turbulent.”
Sunday’s vote capped a weeklong constitutional crisis that had mesmerized the nation. It began April 3, when Khan sought to sidestep the no-confidence vote by dissolving parliament and calling early elections. The matter was left to the Supreme Court to sort out; it ruled to reinstate parliament and that the vote be held.
Khan has won international praise for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, opting for “smart lockdowns” where outbreaks occurred, rather than countrywide closures, which helped to protect some industries, such as the construction sector. His reputation for fighting corruption has brought a record $21 billion in deposits from overseas Pakistanis.
But he has not been able to overcome an increasingly strained relationship with the army, which has ruled Pakistan directly for more than half its 75-year history and indirectly from the sidelines when civilian governments ruled.
Khan’s opponents say the army helped him win the 2018 election after it had fallen out with Nawaz Sharif, who was convicted of corruption after being named in the so-called Panama Papers, a collection of leaked financial documents showing how some of the world’s richest people hide their money.
Pakistan’s Supreme Court disqualified Nawaz Sharif from holding office. He lives in London in self-imposed exile after being convicted in a Pakistani court of corruption and sentenced to 10 years in jail.
Fissures in Khan’s relationship with the army began in November after he squabbled with Army Chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa over the appointment of the new intelligence chief.
Last weekend, Bajwa appeared to distance himself from Khan’s anti-U.S. attacks, saying Pakistan wants good relations with the country, its largest export trading partner, and with China. He condemned Russia’s war in Ukraine.