Pakistan: Will the political crisis get the better of Prime Minister Imran Khan?

Prime Minister Imran Khan embarks for a visit to Moscow, on February 23, 2022, in Islamabad.

© Pakistani Prime Minister's Office, via Reuters

Text by: Sonia Ghezali Follow

3 mins

Pakistan is hosting the 48th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Tuesday, March 22, for two days in a climate of domestic political crisis: Prime Minister Imran Khan and his government are object of a motion of censure, the vote of which will take place in a week.

However, the head of government has lost many supporters, even within his own camp.

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From our correspondent in Islamabad,

The motion of no confidence was officially tabled after a long march earlier this month organized by the Pakistan People's Party (PPP).

The demonstrators demanded the departure of

.

This motion was tabled almost immediately at the initiative of a coalition of opposition parties.

The vote of no confidence must finally take place on March 28: the date has been postponed because of the 48th session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) which is being held for two days in Islamabad, the capital.

The opposition has formed a coalition to dislodge the Prime Minister: the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) is led by Maulana Fazul Rehman, a religious fundamentalist leader of the Jamiat Ulama-e-Islam party.

But it also has the biggest Pakistani political parties, including the PPP of the Bhutto clan, and the PML-N of the Sharif clan.

A catastrophic balance sheet and the poorest strangled financially?

Beyond the pure political rivalries, the opposition parties reproach Imran Khan for a catastrophic record of his mandate.

thanks to his past as an internationally renowned cricketer, as well as thanks to his actions in favor of development in the health sector for example .

He was also a leading figure in the opposition who also organized large demonstrations against the government.

It lost its aura, as well

, with

such as additional taxation which hit the poorest fringe of the country hard.

Pakistan is strangled financially by a large debt.

Inflation exploded affecting basic necessities and companies saw their turnover plunge up to 80%.

The Covid-19 pandemic has not helped.

The opposition does not even want to wait for the next legislative election, which must take place in the summer of 2023.

Imran Khan's departure would be a first in Pakistan's history

Although this has never happened in the history of Pakistan, Imran Khan may well be an exception: the vote of no confidence may well lead to his departure.

The Prime Minister has lost several of his supporters within his party, the PTI, and it is this that could well tip the number of votes in the vote of no confidence: 24 members of his party who sit in Parliament have declared not support him, even deciding to change their place of residence to Islamabad to escape pressure, according to reports they have taken up residence in a compound which is run by the opposition.

Another important element: when he came to power in 2018, Imran Khan had managed to rally several small political parties from all over the country such as the MQM of Karachi, the GDA of Sindh, the PML Q of Punjab or the BAP of Baluchistan .

But these last regional parties have also abandoned him.

In 2018, he had obtained 179 seats in the assembly, he needed 172 to reach the majority: today he only has 162 after the defections within his party.

The Prime Minister therefore risks having to leave.

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• Pakistan

• Imran Khan