Editorial

The opposition parties have finally submitted a no-confidence motion against the Prime Minister Imran Khan. The Speaker of the National Assembly will now call the session and announce as to when the voting shall take place. According to rules, the process should be completed within the next three or four weeks. Even the prime minister was not expecting that the opposition will submit the motion keeping in view the past practices and Opposition’s dilly dallying tactics. However the cat has finally come out of the bag and now the question for the government is as to how to send the cat back into the bag.

The PPP long march culminated at the D Chowk with speeches of the key leaders including the Chairman Bilawal Bhutto and Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari. Unexpectedly, the PPP did not stage a sit-in as was expected. Political analysts believed the PPP was coming to Islamabad for a dharma till the time the no trust move yielded some results. But it did not happen. Analysts believe, dharna was not part of the script therefore the PPP men dispersed peacefully.

The body language of the prime minister appears to have changed after the submission of the no-trust move. He is now reaching out to his allies in order to muster support against the move. Similarly, he is trying to woo the disgruntled party voices, who apparently have decided to pool their support in favour of the opposition camp. Legally the PTI MPs cannot vote against the prime minister. What they can do is that they form a forward bloc in the National or Provincial Assembly and ask the Speaker to allot them space on the opposition benches.

The Jahangir Tareen and Aleem Khan factors are likely to play a key role in the future course of action. In Punjab they have decided to get Usman Buzdar out of power come what may. And in the Center they may support the opposition camp in case the prime minister and his team fail to woo them back into their camp.

To some the chances of a no-trust move to succeed are 50-50 but if the PTI’s splinter group remains steadfast in its opposition to the leadership the chances may be 60-40 in favour of the opposition. The Information Minister has claimed that they have the support of 184 members. If the prime minister is able to survive this move then ostensibly he will emerge as a strong man.