Ahead Of Pak No-Trust Vote, Politics & A Court Battle

Pakistani PM Imran Khan who faces a no-trust motion on the floor of the House claims he has a card or two up his sleeve. Ahead of the National Assembly session that begins today (March 25), Khan said he would play his cards a day before the motion is taken up for voting. He went on to predict he would emerge victorious. The Opposition says it is confident the government doesn’t have the numbers. Khan has rubbished demands for his resignation, asking, “Should I resign on the demand of thieves?” “The PPP and PML-N’s politics revolved around concealing their theft,” he claimed. Khan needs at least 172 of the total 342 members in the lower house of parliament to defeat the no-confidence motion. Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid has said voting on the motion could be held between March 30 and April 1. A judicial battle is also playing out alongside. Against the backdrop of several ruling party parliamentarians joining the opposition ranks, the government has moved Supreme Court, through a presidential reference, seeking its opinion on Article 63-A that deals with disqualification of lawmakers over defection. Meanwhile, the government isn’t leaving anything to chance. It has planned a huge show of strength in Islamabad on March 27. In a message to rally public support, Khan even invoked teachings of the Quran and asked people to ‘stand with good against evil’.