Pakistan president dissolves national assembly after vote against Imran Khan thrown out

Khan will hold onto his position until a new caretaker prime minister is selected

Pakistan’s president Arif Alvi dissolved the country’s national assembly on the advice of Imran Khan on Sunday after his party blocked a no-confidence vote to prevent the prime minister’s removal.

The president’s office announced on Sunday that Mr Khan would remain prime minister until a caretaker premier was appointed.

Mr Khan said on Sunday that he had advised Mr Alvi to “dissolve assemblies” under Article 58 of the Pakistani constitution, and called for fresh elections.

“The president of Pakistan, Dr Arif Alvi, has approved the advice of the prime minister of Pakistan to dissolve the national assembly under Article 58 (1) read with Article 48(1) of the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan,” Mr Alvi’s office said in a statement.

Pakistan’s top court will meet on Monday to decide on the fate of Mr Khan, as the country, which has been ruled by the military for almost half of its history, plunges deeper into a political crisis.

A no-confidence motion against the former cricket star was rejected by deputy speaker Qasim Khan Suri, a member of Mr Khan’s party, just moments before it was expected to be tabled on Sunday. Amid sloganeering by the opposition, Mr Suri said the vote was against the country’s constitution.

Just before that, information minister Fawad Chaudhry, in a speech on the floor of the assembly, urged Mr Suri to throw out the resolution, citing threats from a foreign country.

Defending his stance, the former international cricketer, who had vowed to “play till the last ball”, said he had not acted unconstitutionally and alleged that the opposition’s move to oust him was a plot by a foreign country. He congratulated the nation for the dismissal of the no-confidence motion and called the attempt to change the regime a “foreign conspiracy”.

“Thank God, a conspiracy to topple the government has failed,” he said, adding: “The people should decide who they want.”

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

A key ally of Mr Khan along with several members of Pakistan’s 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 result of the vote if it had been held.

Although the military, which favoured Mr Khan’s conservative and nationalist rhetoric in 2018, has denied involvement in civilian politics, according to political analysts it has distanced itself from recent political developments.

Meanwhile, Shehbaz Sharif, opposition leader and member of Pakistan Muslim League (N), warned that the prime minister and national assembly speaker would be tried once their government falls.

He said Mr Khan’s actions were an “act of treason”.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the chair of the Pakistan Peoples Party, said the opposition would “initiate a legal battle” against the “unconstitutional ruling”.

“We cannot under any circumstances compromise on the constitution. SC [supreme court] must rise to the challenge & prove our constitution is more than a piece of paper. If we can’t implement the constitution on the floor of the NA [national assembly], we can’t dream of constitutional supremacy anywhere else,” Mr Zardari said in a tweet.