Pakistan PM Imran Khan to address nation ahead of no-trust vote

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan will address the nation tonight ahead of the no-trust vote against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led government. Announcing this on Twitter, Pakistan’s Federal Minister Fawad Chaudhry said, "Prime Minister Imran Khan will address the nation tonight".

The development comes at a time when Pakistan National Assembly is all set to take up a discussion on the no-confidence motion against Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan-led government in the Lower House session which is scheduled at 4 pm today.

Khan, 69, has been facing mounting criticism of his performance, including his management of an economy beset by high inflation and rising deficits, and he lost his majority in parliament on Wednesday when the main ally quit his coalition.

"The prime minister is as good as gone," the influential English-language Dawn newspaper said in an editorial on the front page of its website.

Khan is due to address the nation as parliament begins the debate at 4 p.m. (1100 GMT). A vote on the motion must be held by Monday.

On Wednesday, Khan`s main parliamentary ally, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), abandoned his coalition and threw its lot in with the opposition seeking to oust him.

Opposition leaders had called on Khan to resign even before he lost his majority in parliament, but his aides have said he will not quit.

Khan`s ouster could mean another round of instability in a country in which the military has a long record of intervening in politics and no prime minister has ever completed a full five-year term.

Political analysts said PM Khan enjoyed the support of the military when he won an election to become prime minister in 2018 but he later lost the generals’ favour over various wrangles.

Khan has denied ever having the backing of the military and the military, which has ruled Pakistan for about half its history, denies involvement in civilian politics.

With Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan virtually losing the majority in the 342-member National Assembly after defection of two key allies, backdoor efforts are underway to reach a deal between the premier and the joint opposition to dissolve the lower house, according to a highly placed source.

A highly placed source in the federal government said on Thursday that backdoor talks between the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government and the joint opposition are underway on the issue of a no-confidence motion against Khan.

"Talks are focused on one point - the joint opposition withdraws the no-trust motion against Khan and in return, he dissolves the National Assembly calling for fresh elections," the source said.

"The top man in the establishment may be a guarantor if the understanding (deal) between the opposition and the government reaches,” he added. "If this deal is cut, the new elections will be held in August this year," he said, adding that since the opposition is not trusting Khan, the guarantor may ally its concerns.

The development comes a day after Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry on Wednesday confirmed a meeting between Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa and Prime Minister Khan.

The powerful army, which has ruled Pakistan for more than half of its 73 plus years of existence, has hitherto wielded considerable power in the matters of security and foreign policy.

(With Agency Inputs )