Pakistan Political Crisis: Pak PM Imran Khan Wins Litmus Test, Proves Vote Of Confidence

Imran Khan declared his intention to seek vote of confidence in parliament after Pakistan Finance Minister Abdul Hafiz Sheikh lost his bid for Senate seat.

Pakistan PM Imran Khan

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan faced a litmus test today as he sought a vote of confidence from the parliament. The vote of confidence was held in Pakistan's National Assembly. 

The Imran Khan government was successful and secured majority votes on Saturday to win the vote of confidence from the National Assembly.

The political turmoil embroiled Pakistan politics once again after Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) candidate Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, Finance Minister and close confidant of the Prime Minister Imran Khan, was defeated by former prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani in the Senate or the Upper House from the Islamabad seat.

This tilted the balance of power in the Upper House as after the Pak Senate elections, opposition parties retained the majority in the 100-member Senate as they now have 53 seats, while the ruling alliance has only 47 seats.

It is also that the margin of victory is being debated as Election Commission announced that Gilani received 169 votes as compared to Shaikh's 164 votes after a secret ballot voting was held in the senate. Before the Senate election, PTI had claimed that it has the support of 182 members as only 172 votes were required to elect the senator.

The opposition has been continuously mounting pressure on the PM to step down following PTI's humiliating defeat in Senate’s Islamabad seat.

After the loss, Pak Prime Minister Imran Khan in a televised appeal on Thursday said that he will put his government for a Vote of Confidence in the National Assembly (Lower House) on Saturday.      

Before the voting in the senate started, PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal was hit by a shoe on his head allegedly thrown by a PTI worker, as per Pakistan media reports. Intense sloganeering against the Opposition by PTI workers was witnessed at the Parliament Lodges in Islamabad. PML-N leaders Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Maryam Aurangzeb were reportedly manhandled until police arrived, Pakistan media reported.

Imran Khan is the second Prime Minister in the history of Pakistan who is going to the National Assembly for a 'voluntary' vote of confidence.

Prior to PM Khan, Nawaz Sharif had sought a voluntary vote of confidence from the Parliament after his reinstatement was granted by the Supreme Court in 1993. The Opposition alliance, Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), is boycotting the NA session.