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Political turmoil has embroiled Pakistan politics once again after Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) candidate Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, Finance Minister and close confidant of the Prime Minister Imran Khan, was defeated by former prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani in the Senate or the Upper House from the Islamabad seat.
This tilted the balance of power in the Upper House as after the Pak Senate elections, opposition parties retained the majority in the 100-member Senate as they now have 53 seats, while the ruling alliance has only 47 seats.
It is also that the margin of victory is being debated as Election Commission announced that Gilani received 169 votes as compared to Shaikh’s 164 votes after a secret ballot voting was held in the senate. Before the Senate election, PTI had claimed that it has the support of 182 members as only 172 votes were required to elect the senator.
The opposition has been continuously mounting pressure on the PM to step down following PTI’s humiliating defeat in Senate’s Islamabad seat.
After the loss, Pak Prime Minister Imran Khan in a televised appeal on Thursday said that he will put his government for a Vote of Confidence in the National Assembly (Lower House) on Saturday.
For those reasons, Pak PM Imran Khan convened a meeting of his allies on Friday to firm up his strategy ahead of the vote of confidence in the National Assembly.
Imran Khan’s Strategy To Counter Opposition:
Pakistan Prime Minister needs the support of 171 lawmakers in the National Assembly, currently having 340 members out of a total of 342 as two seats are vacant, during Saturday’s vote of confidence.
On Friday He met lawmakers from Mutahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P), Pakistan Muslim League Quaid-e-Azam (PML-Q) and Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) to discuss ways to counter the opposition.
The meeting assumes significance as sources suggest the GDA has some issues as its candidate for the Senate seat lost in the Sindh Assembly. In addition, the MQM-P too has concerns regarding the issues faced by Karachi.
Opposition Alliance To Boycott National Assembly Session:
Imran Khan received a major blow ahead of the vote of confidence as the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) announced a boycott of Saturday’s National Assembly session. PDM Head Maulana Fazlur Rehman while addressing a news conference in Sukkur announced: “no member of opposition would participate in tomorrow’s (Saturday’s) National Assembly session”.
“Vote of no-confidence has already been given in the shape of Senate elections… in the victory of Yousuf Raza Gilani,” Pakistan daily Dawn quoted Maulana Fazlur Rehman as saying.
PDM is a 10-party Opposition alliance and the former PM was their candidate who defeated the current Finance Minister in the Senate elections and staged an upset.
Vote Of Confidence Will Lead To Imran Khan’s Ouster
Launching a frontal attack on the Prime Minister, the opposition has said Imran Khan’s decision to seek a vote of confidence suggests a sign of his weakness and will eventually lead to his ouster.
The former prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said Imran Khan has lost the moral ground to remain in power, adding winning the vote of confidence is immaterial.
Ready To Sit In Opposition: Imran Khan
Imran Khan, who came to power in 2018, addressing the nation earlier on Thursday said that he would sit on opposition benches if the house refused to pose trust in his leadership.
The Prime Minister also criticised the opposition Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) for “making a mockery of democracy”, while calling out the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for “protecting those who made money by holding the Senate elections through secret ballot”.
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