Several Pakistan MPs defect from PM's party before no-trust vote
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Loading... - Qarin Sarin
- 18 Mar 2022
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Several legislators from Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s ruling party have withdrawn their support for him ahead of a no-confidence vote, stoking more uncertainty over whether the former cricketer can hang on to power.
The development on Thursday came a day after a key ally said Khan was in danger of losing his coalition partners, flagging a “tilt” by his partners in government towards their opponents.
The opposition blames Khan for mismanaging the country, economy and foreign policy. No Pakistani prime minister has ever completed his term in office.
The threat of political turmoil in the nuclear-armed nation is growing as the opposition looks to remove Khan in a vote that could come as soon as this month after a no-confidence motion was unveiled in parliament last week.
“We have differences with the prime minister,” one of his legislators, Raja Riaz, told local Geo News TV.
“We will vote according to our conscience,” he said, claiming there were more than 20 defectors.
Three more legislators endorsed Riaz and TV channels showed recorded footage of several ruling party members at an office of the opposition Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) in Islamabad.
“We are clear that we will not get into any blackmailing to save our government,” Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry told a news conference. “We reject this culture of turncoats.” Read More…
