Analysis | Pakistan PM Imran Khan suffers blow as coalition partner jumps ship ahead of no-confidence vote
- A deal has left Khan eight votes shy of the 172 he needs on Sunday, as his government loses the backing of powerful generals
- If Khan is ousted, a broad-based coalition government is expected to take over, with opposition figure Shahbaz Sharif nominated as candidate for prime minister
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan lost his parliamentary majority overnight with a key coalition partner jumping ship, dealing the former cricket star another blow in his fight for political survival.
No Pakistani prime minister has ever completed a five-year tenure because of interventions staged by the military-led establishment since the 1950s, and the toppling of Khan’s administration would come more than a year before the country’s next scheduled general election.
A deal struck in the early hours of Wednesday between the Karachi-based Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and the combined parliamentary opposition left Khan eight votes short of the 172 needed to defeat a no-confidence vote scheduled to take place this Sunday.
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party lost the support of another regional ally, the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) on Monday.
Many Pakistani analysts expect the move to unseat Khan will be further supported by about 20 PTI rebel MPs led by former aides of the prime minister. Khan has ordered his party MPs to stay away from parliament on the day of the no-confidence vote.
If Khan is ousted, a broad-based coalition government is expected to take over, with the combined opposition nominating Shahbaz Sharif, president of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party, as its candidate for prime minister.