PM Imran Khan to seek vote of confidence from parliament after Senate upset
Prime Minister Imran Khan will seek a vote of confidence from the parliament after the ruling PTI suffered a setback in the Senate elections as PM Khan’s party lost the crucial Senate seat from Islamabad to the joint opposition candidate.
The government would seek vote of confidence in the National Assembly on Saturday (March 6).
Addressing a news conference in Islamabad late on Wednesday, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that Khan has decided to seek a vote of confidence from parliament. The development came hours after the 10-party opposition alliance demanded the premier’s resignation and fresh elections in the country following the elections of the upper house of the parliament.
Prime minister’s decision has been described by political observers as “bold and courageous move” to thwart opposition’s pressure on the government.
PTI won 18 new seats out of 48 total taking its total strength to 24 in the Senate. Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) managed to secure 8 votes. PTI’s ally Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) secured six more seats while Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) managed to clinch only 5 new seats and JUI-F 3. The MQM-P and the ANP won two seats each.
The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) won the highest number of seats in the Senate polls, however, in an upset, PTI candidate Hafeez Sheikh lost a seat from Islamabad to the joint opposition alliance candidate Yousaf Raza Gilani.
FM Qureshi described the victory of Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani on the general seat of the Senate from the federal capital as “negation of democracy” and said that “Today was a sad day for democracy.”
Gilani’s victory also endorsed PM Imran Khan’s view of corruption and corrupt practices in the Senate elections, Qureshi said mentioning the video which surfaced a day before the polls in which Gilani’s son Ali Haider was seen telling someone how to waste the vote.
“I regret to say that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) failed to ensure transparency in the Senate polls,” he said. “The ECP was entrusted with a huge responsibility, but it [failed to deliver],” said Qureshi.
[…] he will not be blackmailed or pressurized by opposition tactics, PM Khan said he is ready to seek a vote of confidence afresh from the National Assembly on […]