'Imran Khan is fighting an unwinnable war'
Mar 20, 2022
Islamabad [Pakistan], March 20 : As Pakistan Prime Minister faces uncertainty ahead of the no-confidence vote this month, a Pakistan analyst has argued that Imran Khan is fighting what increasingly appears to be an "unwinnable war."
Opposition political parties have sought a no-confidence motion in Parliament to remove Imran Khan.
The ruling party has responded by threatening violence and briefly detaining two members of parliament (MPs). Pakistan'sopposition leaders have threatened to stage a "sit-in" in the lower house and disrupt the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit, if the no-confidence motion against Imran Khan is not presented in the national assembly on Monday, the deadline for tabling the resolution.
In an editorial piece in the Dawn newspaper, Fahd Husain, said the pre-power days Imran Khan was riding high on a wave of popularity fuelled by factors that were partly organic, and partly not. The incumbents did not stand a chance.
In the post-power days, he has been surfing on a wave of expectations fuelled by hope and ignited by the spark of state machinery, he said. The final outcome of what could be Khan's last stand is still 10 days away, as the date of the no-confidence motion against Khan inches closer.
According to Husain, what is fairly clear to those not blinded by partisan rage is that the events we see around us today -- the vote of no-confidence, betrayal by own members and dithering of allies -- all these happenings did not break out like a cloudburst.
The Opposition parties submitted the no-trust motion against Imran Khan in the National Assembly secretariat on March 8. While the ImranKhan government has exuded confidence to defeat the no-trust motion, the opposition is sure that they will oust Khan.
Notably, the opposition parties have rejected the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government's offer for withdrawing the no-trust motion against Prime Minister and has made it clear that the resolution will only be withdrawn if the premier announces his resignation.
If Imran Khan is voted out through the motion, it would create history as a vote of no-confidence has never been carried against the prime minister in Pakistan.
