Imran Khan was deposed late at night, and diplomatic secrets led to major changes... Pakistan is electing a new prime minister today

Source: Global Times

In the early morning of 10 July local time, Pakistan's National Assembly (the lower house of parliament) passed a motion of distrust of Prime Minister Imran Khan, who also became the first prime minister in Pakistan's history to be deposed. Recently, Pakistan's internal political situation has been turbulent. Imran Khan, claiming that the vote of no confidence was the result of a "foreign conspiracy" linked to the United States, proposed dissolving the National Assembly and holding an early general election. The proposal had been approved by the President of Pakistan, but the Supreme Court ruled that the move was unconstitutional and ordered the National Assembly to vote again on the motion of no confidence. The National Assembly of Pakistan will elect a new prime minister on the 11th. Many international analysts fear that Pakistan's domestic political situation may remain volatile in the future.

Both factions have launched new prime ministerial candidates

According to Pakistan's Associated News Agency, at about 1:00 a.m. local time on the 10th, after about 13 hours of intermittent debate, Sadiq, the acting speaker of the Pakistan National Assembly who presided over the vote, announced that the motion of no confidence against Prime Minister Imran Khan was supported by 174 votes in the parliament, more than half of the members of the parliament (172 votes), and the motion was passed. Under the Constitution, this means that Imran Khan will formally end his post as Prime Minister, who will transfer power to a new Prime Minister elected by the National Assembly. Imran Khan has reportedly left the Prime Minister's Office.

On the evening of April 9, Pakistani police were on alert outside the National Assembly.

On March 28, the opposition coalition formally motioned no confidence to the National Assembly on the grounds that Imran Khan's campaign promises to lead the economy were weak and that he had failed to deliver on campaign promises to eliminate corruption. On 3 April, The Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, Qasim Suri, vetoed the motion. Pakistani President Alvi then approved Imran Khan's proposal, announced the dissolution of the National Assembly, and held a national election within 90 days. On April 7, Pakistan's Supreme Court ruled that the National Assembly's previous decision to veto the motion of no confidence and dissolve it was unconstitutional and demanded that the National Assembly vote against the motion of no confidence. Before the vote on the 9th, the ruling party MPs tried to adopt a delaying strategy, but after the opposition threatened to file a complaint with the Supreme Court, the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker announced their resignations, and the deputies who supported Imran Khan both withdrew to abandon the vote.

According to the Dawn newspaper, after the vote, acting Speaker Sadik said that the nomination of the new prime minister by all parties must be submitted before 14:00 on the 10th. Parliament will meet on the 11th to vote for the new prime minister. On the afternoon of the 10th, the ruling coalition nominated Kureshi, vice chairman of the JeM party and foreign minister led by Imran Khan, as the candidate for the new prime minister, and the opposition coalition nominated shabaz Sharif, the leader of the opposition and chairman of the Muslim League (Sharif), as the candidate for the new prime minister.

A secret letter caused an uproar

In fact, this political turmoil in Pakistan originated from a secret letter. On the evening of March 27, Imran Khan pulled out a secret letter in a speech, saying he had credible evidence that an international conspiracy was brewing and that a foreign power was trying to overthrow his government by funding domestic figures, according to The Dawn newspaper. According to reports, the secret letter was sent by Pakistan's ambassador to a certain country and contained the records of the conversation between the embassy official and the country's official. The letter said senior foreign officials hinted that relations between the two countries would improve if Imran Khan stepped down.

On 28 March, the Opposition Coalition formally filed a motion of no confidence in the National Assembly. On March 31, Imran Khan gave a televised address to the nation, in which he mentioned the letter again, saying it was not just for himself, but for "our country." He also seems to have no intention of "slipping his lips": "This is a message from the United States ... No, not the United States, I mean, from some other country. In response, US State Department spokesman Price responded on the same day that this statement has "no factual basis." However, Imran Khan and the ruling party have repeatedly publicly referred to the opposition's motion of no confidence as an "import government" scheme, accusing it of being manipulated by the United States.

The opposition coalition argued that this evidence was not direct information and could not prove that the vote on the motion of no confidence proposed by the opposition coalition was interfered with by foreign forces. But some of the opposition's pro-American rhetoric has indeed sparked public discontent and concern. On April 1, when asked about foreign policy toward the United States in an interview with Barary TELEVISION, Shabaz Sharif, the leader of the opposition Muslim League (Sheikh), said: "As beggars, we have no choice. This sentence caused an uproar in the Pakistani media and on the Internet.

On social media, Palestinians have different views on the National Assembly's adoption of a no-confidence motion against Imran Khan. On the 10th, Pakistan's social media posts with the "against the import government" tag reached 2.08 million times. Many people believe that the opposition coalition is circumventing elections and stealing state power by manipulating the National Assembly. However, another part of the public expects the opposition to come to power, promote the development of pakistan's economy, and alleviate the urgent need for soaring prices and plummeting exchange rates.

The future faces serious challenges

Regarding Pakistan's recent political turmoil, the New York Times said that while Imran Khan has recently faced rampant inflation, foreign debt and other economic woes, and some of his reform promises have failed, he has led the country to withstand the test of the new crown epidemic and survived the great disasters experienced by many other countries. His policies of providing health care and subsidies to the poor also allowed him to still have a large number of loyal followers, especially young people. In fact, Imran Khan's foreign policy was the focus of much controversy. In search of more independence, he refused to allow the United States to use bases in Pakistan to launch "anti-terrorist operations" in Afghanistan; after the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan, he praised the Afghans for "breaking the shackles of slavery." These have left some people feeling worried and anxious.

"Why did Pakistan become a country without a stable government?" In recent decades, no democratically elected government in Pakistan has been able to complete a five-year constitutional term, and the leader of the Muslim League (Sheikh) party, Nawaz Sharif, who has served as prime minister three times but has not been able to complete the term, has not been able to complete the term, as has former BJP leader Bernazir Bhutto. Since independence, Pakistan's political turmoil has been largely due to conflicting political factions, corruption, and continued military interference in politics. In addition, the political situation in Pakistan is often turbulent due to the diplomatic tension between the Pakistani government and allies, especially the United States.

Regarding the future situation in Pakistan, the New York Times said that it is expected that Pakistan will still face major challenges in the future, from soaring inflation to an increasingly polarized political climate. Ijaz Khan, an expert at The University of Pabesawa, was quoted as saying: "This crisis has brought serious economic and political polarization and foreign policy problems to Pakistan. "Leading the country out of trouble is a serious challenge for any future government."