Pak PM wins confidence vote amid boycott by Opposition

Tribune News Service
NEW DELHI, MARCH 6

Pakistan was spared political turmoil after Prime Minister Imran Khan today won a vote of confidence he had sought after his Finance Minister suffered a shock defeat from a prominent Opposition stalwart for a Senate seat earlier this week.

Khan received 178 votes in the 342-member National Assembly. “Khan has obtained the vote of confidence and commands the confidence of the majority of the members of the National Assembly,” declared the NA Speaker Asad Qaiser. It was a pyrrhic victory as the Opposition 10-party Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) opted not to contest the vote on the floor of House by staying away from the proceedings.

Pyrrhic victory

• It was a pyrrhic victory as the Opposition 10-party Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) opted not to contest the vote on the floor of House by staying away from the proceedings.
• The vote will be a relief for Khan, who was in the cross-hairs of a combined Opposition that had held massively attended congregations in Pakistan’s major cities.
• Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party had made gains in elections for 48 of 100 seats for the Upper House of Parliament.

Nevertheless, the vote will be a relief for Khan, who was in the cross-hairs of a combined Opposition that had held massively attended congregations in Pakistan’s major cities.

Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party had made gains in elections for 48 of 100 seats for the Upper House of Parliament. But the Opposition was galvinated by the defeat of Federal Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh to former PM Yusuf Raza Gilani in one of the Senate races.

The next day on Thursday, Khan, in an address to the nation, alleged the Opposition had “bought” the votes of some PTI members to win Gilani’s Senate seat. “This was to show that somehow Imran Khan has lost majority. The next step was to bring a vote of no-confidence … the real reason was to use a vote of confidence as a sword over my head to blackmail me into giving them (amnesty),” he had said while seeking a vote of confidence. Sources said Khan’s win meant that his partnership with the army remained intact as they jointly pursued foreign policy goals.