Lagatar24 Desk
Islamabad, March 24: Imran Khan, Pakistan’s prime minister, has stated he will not quit, despite calls from the opposition to do so ahead of a vote of no confidence in him.
Notably, Pakistan’s parliament will meet on Friday to begin deliberations on the no-confidence resolution, which may take up to seven days to vote on whether Khan should be removed.
The vote of no confidence has raised the potential of constitutional, administrative, and economic crises as the IMF prepares to give the next tranche of a $6 billion bailout package, which was supposed to happen this week but has yet to happen.
The motion was presented by opposition parties earlier this month, claiming Khan had lost his legislative majority after 20 of his party’s legislators left, and called for Khan to resign.
“I will not resign come what may,” Khan said in a statement.
Along with roughly 20 of his party’s lawmakers defecting, some of his coalition allies have expressed interest in joining the opposition.
According to some political observers and opposition MPs, Imran Khan has a rift with Pakistan’s formidable military, which was credited with helping the former cricketer’s upstart party win elections four years ago.
Interestingly, no Pakistani prime minister has ever completed his full five year term in the office.
