Fate of Prime Minister Imran Khan hangs in balance as parliament gathers to vote on a no-confidence motion following weeks of political turmoil.
No premier has ever completed a full term, and Khan faces the biggest challenge to his rule since being elected in 2018, with opponents accusing him of economic mismanagement and bungling foreign policy.
PM Imran’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party (PTI) effectively lost its majority in the 342-member assembly last week when a coalition partner said its seven lawmakers would vote with the opposition.
More than a dozen PTI lawmakers have also indicated they will cross the floor. The opposition needs 172 votes for the motion to succeed.
Khan has accused the opposition of conspiring with “foreign powers” to remove him because he won’t take the West’s side on global issues against Russia and China.
Earlier this week he accused the United States of meddling in Pakistan’s affairs.
The opposition is headed by the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) — two groups that dominated national politics for decades until Khan forged a coalition against them.
If Khan goes, the PML-N’s Shehbaz Sharif is tipped to become the next prime minister.
Sharif is the younger brother of three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who was ousted in 2017 and jailed on corruption charges, but is currently in Britain after being released from prison for medical treatment.
On Saturday the government moved to have Shehbaz sent back to jail to await trial on money-laundering charges that have been pending since 2020, asking a Lahore court to revoke his bail. A decision is expected Monday.
Khan was elected after promising to sweep away decades of entrenched corruption and cronyism, but has struggled to maintain support with inflation skyrocketing, a feeble rupee and crippling debt.
Debate on the no-confidence motion was due to start Thursday, but the deputy speaker — from Khan’s party — suspended proceedings when legislators declined to first address other items on the agenda.
Khan, a former international cricket star who in 1992 captained Pakistan to their only World Cup win, hinted Saturday he still had a card to play.
