PM Khan says won’t resign, has good relations with Pakistan army

Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan, right, Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, center, and Defense Minister Pervez Khattaq attend a military parade to mark Pakistan National Day in Islamabad, Pakistan, on March 23, 2022. (AP)

• The National Assembly will meet on Friday to take up a no-confidence motion against the prime minister
• Khan tells the media the country’s military has wrongly been criticized amid the current political turmoil

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday pledged to defeat the opposition’s no-confidence motion against him, saying he was not going to resign amid the current political turmoil in the country and enjoyed good ties with the army.
Pakistan’s opposition parties filed a no-trust motion against the prime minister on March 8, accusing his administration of mismanaging the country and its economy.
The National Assembly is scheduled to meet on March 25 to take up the no-confidence resolution.
“I will not resign under any circumstances,” Khan said during a media interaction. “My prediction is that we will win the no-confidence match.”
“The opposition has showed its cards,” he continued. “However, it will get a huge surprise since it does not know itself how many of its people will remain with it.”
The prime minister said he was on good terms with the military. He also maintained the army had been wrongly criticized amid the prevailing political situation.
As Khan braced for the no-confidence motion, the country’s armed forces faced social media criticism for its alleged political role.
However, the military’s spokesperson said in a recent news conference the army had nothing to do with politics.
Faced with disgruntled lawmakers within its own ranks, the government also filed a presidential reference in the Supreme Court earlier this week, seeking the interpretation of Article 63-A, which sets down rules for the disqualification of parliamentarians in the case of defection and violation of party policy.
The opposition needs the support of 172 lawmakers in the country’s 342-member National Assembly for the no-trust vote to prevail. The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has accused the opposition of bribing its lawmakers to vote against Khan.
The government hopes it can get defecting lawmakers disqualified through a court ruling, making it difficult for the opposition to secure simple majority to bring it down.
Meanwhile, the prime minister and the opposition leaders have announced to hold mammoth rallies in the capital this week to demonstrate their street power.
“The PTI March 27 rally [in Islamabad] will be historic,” Khan said.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president and leader of the opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday said his party’s “long march” would now kick off from Lahore on March 26 and arrive in the capital on March 28.
Earlier, it was scheduled to start from today, March 23.
The opposition has already maintained it has the required numbers to win the no-trust vote, though its leaders are still holding meetings with the government’s allied parties to convince them to abandon the coalition.