Imran Khan loses trust vote after midnight political drama

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan lost the no-confidence vote in the country's national assembly post-midnight, capping a day that witnessed a series of stunning developments. The Opposition gathered 174 votes in favour of the resolution to remove Imran Khan from the post of Prime Minister.

Here are the top developments:

* Ayaz Sadiq, the Opposition nomination for Speaker, is now leading the vote of no-confidence inside the National Assembly. Members of Imran Khan's party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, walked out of Parliament after Speaker Asad Qaisar resigned.

* Qaiser resigned to protect Imran Khan. His announcement came after he held multiple meetings with Imran Khan. He was also caught abusing the media when they asked him whether the office of Speaker was colluding with the Prime Minister.

* Qaiser had been dilly-dallying over the voting on the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan. He has time till midnight to conduct the no-trust motion. According to reports, the office of the Election Commission of Pakistan is being opened. Experts say that if the Speaker violates the Supreme Court order to hold the trust vote and is held in contempt, the poll body would be asked to disqualify him.

* The political drama even reached the doorsteps of the Pakistan Supreme Court. Chief Justice of Pakistan opened the Supreme Court's doors post-midnight. All through the day, the Opposition kept citing Article 190 of the country's constitution that all administrative bodies and the judiciary of the country are required to cooperate with the Supreme Court in implementing the orders of the top court.

* Pakistan media reported that a request had been placed before the Islamabad High Court to put Imran Khan, Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Fawad Chaudhary on Pakistan's Exit Control List.

* Earlier, there were rumours that Pakistan's Army Chief General Qamar Bajwa had been sacked. However, Imran Khan dismissed the rumours as baseless. Meanwhile, a petition was also filed in the Islamabad High Court to prevent the removal of the Army Chief. 

* According to media reports, all airports in the country have been put on high alert. Government employees and Parliamentarians have been directed not to leave the country without a no-objection certificate. Hospitals in Islamabad have also been placed on high alert.

* PML-Nawaz leader Maryam Nawaz Sharif took to Twitter to state: "Supreme Court of Pakistan must take immediate suo moto notice of brazen violation of its decision & order arrests of Imran Khan, Speaker & Deputy Speaker before he blows everything up. Bureaucracy and administration should refuse to comply with any orders coming from the government."

* Heavy contingent of security forces has been deployed inside Islamabad's red zone.

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• Pakistan crisis
• political crisis
• Imran Khan
• Pakistan
• National Assembly
• No-confidence vote
• not-trust motion
• Islamabad
• Yearender2023-Aug