Opposition gathering in Islamabad for anti-govt protest

Supporters of Pakistan’s key opposition party are gathering in the capital, Islamabad, for a major anti-government rally to demand Prime Minister Imran Khan step down over his alleged failure to improve the country’s economy

Pakistan Politics (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Supporters of Pakistan’s key opposition party are gathering in the capital, Islamabad, for a major anti-government rally to demand Prime Minister Imran Khan step down over his alleged failure to improve the country’s economy.

The protesters assembled in the eastern city of Lahore on Sunday and took to the road. On Tuesday they set out around noon in hundreds of cars, trucks and buses from Rawat, a town in Punjab province, reaching the outskirts of the capital hours later.

The convoy halted along the road, waiting for convoys from elsewhere in Pakistan to join them, before entering Islamabad in the evening.

The rally, which the opposition has been preparing for since late February in southern Sindh province, is expected to take place near the parliament building later on Tuesday night.

Pakistani opposition parties often hold such rallies but this one follows a formal no-confidence motion against Khan that was submitted to parliament by the opposition. Under the constitution, the speaker of the National Assembly now must convene a special session that will deliberate whether Khan still has majority support in the house.

Should Khan fail to win approval, the parliament will have to choose a new prime minister.

“The days of Imran Khan (as a prime minister) are numbered," said Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the leader of the Pakistan People's Party.

Earlier Tuesday in Islamabad, opposition lawmaker Fazalur Rehman, Asif Ali Zardari, a former president, and Shahbaz Sharif, the opposition leader in the National Assembly, said at a press conference they were sure of the “success of our no-confidence motion."

However, Khan has remained defiant, claiming he still enjoys the backing of the majority of lawmakers. In televised remarks at a gathering held in connection with the International Women's Day, he said he was fully ready to face the opposition's no-trust move.

Khan needs 172 votes in the 342-seat assembly to stay on as premier. If none of the lawmakers from the ranks of his allies or his own ruling Tehreek-e-Insaf party vote against him, he will likely succeed. However, Tehreek-e-Insaf is currently facing a split because of an internal revolt by some members.

Khan, a former cricket star turned Islamist politician, came into power in 2018 but his popularity has declined since last year, mainly because of increasing inflation.