Pakistan’s parliament has ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan in a no-confidence vote.
The political opposition won the vote after several of Khan’s allies and a key coalition party left.
The united opposition will now form the new government. The assembly will also appoint a new prime minister, who will be able to hold power until October 2023, when the next elections are to take place.
Candidates for Pakistan’s next prime minister submitted their nomination documents on Sunday. The Pakistani parliament will convene on Monday to elect a successor to Khan.
Shehbaz Sharif – the brother of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif – is a favorite for the country’s top position. He told parliament on Saturday that the removal of Mr Khan was a chance for a new start for the country.
“A new dawn has begun … This alliance will rebuild Pakistan,” Mr Sharif said.
Mr Hahn has not yet spoken publicly about his ouster. But before the vote, he called for peaceful protests.
On Saturday, former cricket star Mr Hahn said that if he was removed from power, he would not recognize an opposition government. “I will not accept an import government. “I am ready to fight,” he said.
Earlier, he called the vote a “foreign-funded drama” and called on people to protest.
Voting was postponed by 1pm before parliamentarians begin voting on Saturday. Opposition parties managed to garner 174 votes in the 342-member chamber in support of the proposal, Speaker Ayaz Sadik said.
In scenes of heightened drama earlier in the day, the Speaker of the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, resigned, saying: “The country’s interests must be a priority.”
The start of the vote was announced by an opposition lawmaker who took the presidency, Reuters reported.
People watch a televised speech by Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan a day after the country’s Supreme Court overturned a government move to block a no-confidence vote.
(EPA)
Imran Khan called the vote a “foreign conspiracy against Pakistan.” He became Pakistan’s first prime minister to be ousted by a no-confidence vote.
“This will be the first time in Pakistan’s history that a no-confidence vote has toppled a prime minister – a constitutional process that was far from guaranteed after Khan’s attempts to thwart the vote,” said Elizabeth Treckeld, a Pakistani expert at the US-based Stimson Center, Reuters reported. “This in itself is important and can give Pakistan something to build on.
Deputies tried to cast a no-confidence vote in parliament last Sunday, but were blocked by a member of Mr Khan’s political party.
The opposition against Mr Khan then petitioned the Supreme Court to rule on the situation. On Thursday, the Supreme Court said a no-confidence vote must continue.
The proposal was due to be submitted on Saturday morning, but parliament was postponed for an hour and a half because Mr Hahn was not present in the House.
Mr Sharif said on Saturday: “I hope so [the speaker] will hold today’s meeting of the Chamber by order of the Supreme Court.
“I urge you to uphold the Constitution and the law.”
Pakistan’s powerful army chief, General Kamar Javed Badjwa, reportedly met with Khan on Saturday.
The opposition and some analysts say Mr Khan has quarreled with the military, an accusation he and the military deny.
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