A year on, the historic no-trust vote remains shrouded with controversy. April 09, 2023
Former prime minister Imran Khan making a speech during a session in National Assembly.
Pakistan marked the first anniversary of the unceremonious ouster of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan as premier on Sunday after the present ruling coalition voted him out of office.
Gruelling political uncertainty had ended around midnight when the daylong session of the lower house of parliament convened to vote on the no-confidence motion and culminated with the dismissal of Imran Khan, the 22nd prime minister of Pakistan, who became the first chief executive to be removed from office after losing majority in the National Assembly.
Imran’s PTI party, which governed the country for over three-and-a-half years, had been struggling to stay in power as its allies betrayed to join the opposition parties that had joined forces against the government.
Read In pictures: protests against Imran Khan’s ouster
While Pakistan’s history has been marred with political instability, no prime minister had ever been removed from office through a no-trust motion.
With the promise to “rebuild Pakistan” the 13-party coalition, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) had cheered the development on in 2021 and championed it even after its split.
Speaking on the occasion, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)’s chairperson and present Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had congratulated the whole nation and the House, “as for the first time in the history of the country, a no-confidence motion has succeeded and we have made history”, claiming that the “selected” who had proved himself to be an “undemocratic burden” on the country saw the end of his rule.
