Pakistan PM Imran Khan calls for fresh elections after no-confidence vote against him shot down

Imran Khan recommends Pakistan’s president to dissolve assemblies in a shocking development as it was widely expected he would either be ousted from power or step down as prime minister

Imran Khan has called for fresh elections in Pakistan moments after a no-confidence vote against him was shot down by the deputy speaker of the country’s National Assembly in a shocking twist.

In a reprieve for Mr Khan, the vote against him by the opposition was rejected by deputy speaker Qasim Khan Suri on Sunday, just moments before it was expected to be tabled.

Mr Suri said the vote was against the country’s constitution. An outraged opposition looked on as the assembly session that would have decided Mr Khan’s fate was quickly wrapped up within minutes.

Mr Suri, in his dramatic message to the assembly, could be heard saying he was ruling to “disallow” the vote, as lawmakers shouted slogans.

“This is what is acceptable to God!!!” wrote the speaker in a tweet in Urdu with a clip of himself.

Mr Khan, right after the shooting down of the vote, addressed the nation and recommended Pakistan president Arif Alvi dissolve the country’s assemblies and called for fresh elections to be held in the country.

“I have right now sent advice to president sahib [sir] to dissolve the assemblies,” said Mr Khan in his address.

The former international cricketer, who vowed to “play till the last ball”, is now expected to retain power for the time being after the shocking developments.

In his address, Mr Khan reiterated his claims that a “foreign agenda” was behind the vote and offered his congratulations to the country for using its “constitutional powers” to arrive at the rejection.

“Like in a democratic society, we democrats should go to the common people so that there are elections and the people will decide who they want,” Mr Khan said.

“Thank God, a conspiracy to topple the government has failed.”

It was widely expected that he would be ousted from power after it became clear the opposition had the numbers to successfully move the no-confidence vote against him, in the biggest challenge to his political career.

Pakistan’s information minister Fawad Chaudhry said Mr Khan will continue with his responsibilities.

Dr Alvi, the country’s president, has dissolved the National Assembly, with an official notification for the order being sent, reported Geo TV.

The news channel, citing sources, said elections would be held within a period of 90 days.

A key ally of Mr Khan as well as several members of him Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party had deserted him and aligned themselves with the opposition days earlier and would have turned the tide against him if the vote had gone through.

Mr Khan had earlier suggested he might not have accepted the results of the vote if it had gone through.

“How can I accept the result when the entire process is discredited?” Mr Khan had told a select group of foreign journalists at his office on Saturday.

“Democracy functions on moral authority – what moral authority is left after this connivance?”

Pakistan’s joint opposition will take its petition against the move to the Supreme Court, said opposition leader Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

The opposition has declared the rejection of the vote illegal and said it would stage a sit-in in front of the parliament in protest.