A month after the vote of no-confidence motion was tabled against Prime Minister Imran Khan on March 8, the members of the National Assembly of Pakistan finally cast their votes to make Imran Khan the first premier in the history of the country to be ousted via a vote of no-confidence. Two prime ministers before him, Shaukat Aziz in 2006 and Benazir Bhutto in 1989 survived the moves against them.
The month-long political drama culminated with the unceremonious end of Imran Khan’s rule. Despite all the conspiracy rhetoric, delaying the constitutional process of the country, Khan eventually lost. The United Opposition – consisting of major political parties of the country like the PML-N, PPP, JUI-F, et al – passed a no-trust vote against him with 174 members from the 342 strong house, without the PTI dissenters. PML-N’s Ayaz Sadiq also did not cast his vote as he was chairing the session.
The vote of no-confidence was to take place on Sunday, April 3rd. As the session was about to begin, the Deputy Speaker of the lower house, Qasim Suri, discredited the no-trust vote as a foreign conspiracy and dismissed it. In a televised speech, Imran Khan congratulated the Pakistani nation on “thwarting the foreign conspiracy to bring about a regime change in Pakistan” and announced that he had advised the President of the country, Arif Alvi, to dissolve the assemblies. Soon afterwards, the president dissolved the assemblies and Khan was de-notified as the prime minister of Pakistan. Agitated, the opposition leaders flocked to the Supreme Court to seek justice. Five days later, a five-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan, Umar Ata Bandial, declared the deputy speaker’s ruling “unconstitutional” and “erroneous” and restored the National Assembly. The Supreme Court ordered the speaker to hold the session on the vote of no-confidence on Saturday, March 9th.
The session was called on Saturday but instead of allowing the no-trust motion to take place, the speaker deliberately stalled. PTI cronies delivered hours-long speeches one after the other as the assembly took four long breaks. But as the pressure mounted, NA Speaker Asad Qaisar and Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri resigned, citing their loyalty to Imran Khan as the reason. PML-N leader and former speaker Ayaz Sadiq chaired the session and the no-confidence vote finally took place after midnight. By then, all the PTI members except for one had left the assembly.
After the success of the vote of no-confidence, the speaker gave the floor to Shehbaz Sharif, the United Opposition’s candidate for the prime minister. Sharif thanked his fellow opposition members for this “historic” achievement and said that his government will not seek revenge. PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto said: “Welcome back to Purana Pakistan [old Pakistan].”
Khan’s ignominious ouster received a mixed response, ranging from ecstatic to disappointed and from angry to hilariously funny. PML-N Vice-President Maryam Nawaz tweeted that “The nightmare for my beloved Pakistan is over. Time to heal & repair”.
Outgoing Education Minister Shafqat Mehmood was not happy: “Tragic day for Pakistan. An upright and fearless leader was targeted by known corrupt mafias and made to leave. No worries. Imran Khan will rise again as people of Pakistan stand with him and PTI.”
Activist Ammar Ali Jan said: “A clumsy attempt to sabotage the constitution has been defeated. However, the struggle for people’s rights continues. We must push for economic justice, end to enforced disappearances, restoration of LGs/student unions, empowerment of women/minorities, & environmental protection.”
The journalist community of Pakistan was the most ecstatic, perhaps even more than the opposition. Journalist Cyril Almeida tweeted: “The hybrid regime is dead.” In another tweet, he demanded: “The first thing that must be dismantled is the vast infrastructure of propaganda that the army has built up… it is corrosive and designed to manipulate and disorientate the people…”
“Imran Khan sets yet another new Pak record! Becomes the first PM to be ousted through a vote of no confidence”, journalist Hassan Zaidi wrote.