The past week has witnessed a political earthquake rock nuclear-armed Pakistan, culminating in the historically unprecedented ouster of its sitting prime minister by a vote of no-confidence in parliament.
Pakistan has seen many days of constitutional chaos and massive rival street protests unfold, culminating in the midnight Saturday (April 9) vote to boot longtime ruler Imran Khan, who has now seen his term end Sunday (April 10).
Khan was earlier able to block a similar attempt by seeking to dissolve parliament (a move thwarted by the country’s Supreme Court), but by the weekend some key political allies deserted him, leading to 174 parliamentarians passing the no-confidence motion, which required 172 votes among the 342 seat parliament to pass.
Crucially Khan quickly pointed the finger at the United States, and urged his supporters across the nation to take to the streets. The Hill writes, “Anticipating his loss, Khan, who charged his opposition colluded with the United States to unseat him, has called on his supporters to stage rallies nationwide on Sunday.”
