Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has called a meeting of his colleagues on Friday for the preparation of strategy before getting a confidence vote in the National Assembly. Earlier, Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) candidate and former Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani (Yusuf Raza Gilani) on Wednesday ruled Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) (PTI) ‘S candidate Abdul Hafiz Shaikh was defeated in the Senate Elections in a close contest. This was a major setback for Khan, who campaigned privately for Finance Minister Abdul Hafiz Sheikh.
After the Finance Minister’s defeat in the Upper House elections, opposition parties demanded Khan’s resignation. In retaliation, Khan announced a vote of confidence on Saturday at the National Assembly. Sheikh lost by a margin of five votes. President Arif Alvi has called a session of Parliament on Saturday where Khan’s party will have to prove its majority with the help of its allies.
Khan is likely to discuss the trust vote with MPs from the Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P), Pakistan Muslim League Quaid-e-Azam (PML-Q) and Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA). Sources in Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf said that the Prime Minister is likely to discuss the issues related to the defeat of the GDA candidate in the meeting. With this, he will try to reassure the MQM-P on some issues related to Karachi.
Khan needs the support of 171 MPs in the National Assembly as there are 340 members out of a total of 342 members in the House and two seats are vacant. Science Minister Fawad Chaudhary said that Khan would easily win the vote of confidence as PTI’s female candidate for the Senate, Fauzia Arshad, got 174 votes on Wednesday and won.
At the same time, Sheikh got 164 votes and lost. Education Minister Shafaqat Mahmood said that the trust vote will be taken directly which means that no PTI MP will be able to vote against the Prime Minister. However, the leaders of the opposition termed it a victory, saying that Khan was forced to vote for confidence and would have to step down after the defeat.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader and former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said, “The Prime Minister has lost the moral right to remain in power and winning the trust vote has no meaning.”
