Pakistan’s president dissolved Parliament on Sunday setting the stage for early elections after the prime minister sidestepped a no-confidence move earlier in the day.
Imran Khan asked President Arif Alvi to dissolve the National Assembly, or law-making lower house of Parliament, accusing his political opposition of working with the United States to overthrow his government.
Pakistan’s constitution calls for the establishment of an interim government to see the country toward elections, which are to be held within 90 days.
Khan’s political opponents have called a decision by the Parliament’s deputy speaker to throw out their no-confidence resolution illegal and vowed to go to the Supreme Court.
The battle between Khan, a cricket star turned conservative Islamic leader, and his political opposition has mired the nation in political turmoil.
Read:Pakistan's PM sidesteps challenge, seeks fresh elections
Pakistan’s embattled Prime Minister Imran Khan said Sunday he will seek early elections after sidestepping a no-confidence challenge and alleging that a conspiracy to topple his government had failed.
The deputy speaker of Pakistan’s Parliament threw out the opposition parties’ no-confidence resolution and abruptly ended the session. Minutes later, Khan went on national television to say he will ask Pakistan’s president to dissolve Parliament and call early elections.
The developments came after Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry accused the opposition of colluding with a “foreign power” to stage a “regime change.”
“I ask people to prepare for the next elections. Thank God, a conspiracy to topple the government has failed,” Khan said in his address.
The opposition, which said it would stage a protest sit-in in Parliament, called the deputy speaker’s ruling throwing out the no-confidence vote illegal and vowed to go to Pakistan’s Supreme Court.
The opposition arrived in Parliament ready to vote Khan out of power. They needed a simple majority of 172 votes in Pakistan’s 342-seat Parliament to unseat Khan, a cricket star turned conservative Islamic politician. Khan’s small but key coalition partners along with 17 of his own party members joined the opposition to oust him.
The no-confidence vote had been expected some time after Parliament convened Sunday but parliamentary rules allow for three to seven days of debate. The opposition had said it has the numbers for an immediate vote.
Giant metal containers blocked roads and entrances to the capital’s diplomatic enclave and to Parliament and other sensitive government installations in the capital. A defiant Khan called for supporters to stage demonstrations countrywide to protest the vote.
Khan has accused the opposition of being in cahoots with the United States to unseat him, saying America wants him gone over his foreign policy choices that often favor China and Russia. Khan has also been a strident opponent of America’s war on terror and Pakistan’s partnership in that war with Washington.
Khan has circulated a memo which he insists provides proof that Washington conspired with Pakistan’s opposition to unseat him because America wants “me, personally, gone ... and everything would be forgiven.”
A loss for Khan would have given his opponents the opportunity to form a new government and rule until elections, which had been scheduled to be held next year.
Residents of Pakistan’s largest province Punjab were set to vote Sunday for a new chief minister. Khan’s choice faced a tough challenge and his opponents claimed they had enough votes to install their choice.