Imran Khan ousted: How the horic no-confidence vote stretched past midnight
Pakan Prime Miner Imran Khan was removed from office, an hour past midnight on Sunday, in a no-confidence vote that saw 174 members in the 342-strong house voting in favour of the motion. But as promised, Imran did not accept defeat without a fight. The National Assembly was adjourned four times during the day, with members of Imran’s Pakan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) party staging a walkout amid voting.
Despite repeated attempts his supporters to delay the vote, Imran ultimately became the first sitting prime miner in the hory of Pakan to be ousted after losing a no-trust vote in the National Assembly.
Here’s how it happened:
The crucial session of the National Assembly to decide Imran’s fate started on Saturday morning and saw many interruptions and attempts to delay the vote in its early hours.
Pakan’s Prime Miner Imran Khan was ousted when he lost a vote of confidence in parliament, after being deserted coalition partners who blame him for a crumbling economy and failure to deliver on his campaign promises https://t.co/GZqy4FXPTJ pic.twitter.com/nXeBuPetp1
— Reuters (@Reuters) April 9, 2022
Soon after it began, Speaker Asad Qaiser adjourned the session when the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif — who is expected to replace Imran as Prime Miner — took the floor and reminded the Speaker that he was bound to go ahead as per the Supreme Court’s recent order.
During Sharif’s speech, members of the PTI party interjected repeatedly, calling him a “beggar” — now a common refrain referring to a recent comment he made.
There were at least four such intervals during the day, during which Opposition leaders tried to talk to the speaker in the presence of government miners, urging him to put the no-confidence resolution to vote, Dawn reported.
Most adjournments were called due to long speeches made Imran’s supporters — including one on the alleged US conspiracy to oust the cricket-star-turned-politician. In what seemed to be an attempt to stall the session, Pakan Foreign Miner Shah Mahmood Qureshi delivered a long speech where he lashed out at the opposition for engaging with the US.
Another impactful speech was made Opposition leader and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari who defended the opposition’s decision to bring a no-confidence motion against Imran, and vehemently rejected claims of a US conspiracy.
“The real conspiracy is that Imran fears free and fair elections … It is their conspiracy to not let the vote of no confidence take place. They want to stick to power for a day or two even if it means that the speaker and the chairman are made scapegoats,” he said.
Meanwhile, Opposition leaders were heard chanting “voting, voting” and demanding that the speaker go ahead with voting in their speeches.
The proceedings were adjourned till 7:30 pm for Iftar, the meal eaten after sunset during Ramzan to break the day’s fast. But soon after it reconvened, it was adjourned once again till 9:30 pm for Isha prayers.
In an attempt to settle the impasse, Pakan’s army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa was said to have met the prime miner, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. According to Geo News, Khan later told journals that he did not have plans to remove the army chief or make changes to the defence department.
The doors of the Pakan Supreme Court and Islamabad High Court were opened late night to ensure that the vote was executed in accordance with the apex court’s earlier order.
On Saturday night, both National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser and Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri resigned minutes after the crucial session of the house resumed after a break of over three hours, PTI reported.
Soon after voting began at 11:58 pm, the House was adjourned once again. This time the delay lasted a few minutes, to comply with rules that do not allow a session to continue past midnight, Dawn reported. The new session began at 12.02 am (past 12.30 am in India), and the process was completed an hour past midnight.
