Imran Khan became the first Prime Minister of Pakistan to lose a vote of no confidence. On Saturday April 9, after a week of drama by Khan and his supporters despite a clear verdict by the Supreme Court of Pakistan, the National Assembly of Pakistan held a session and voted Khan out.
According to Yousuf Nazar, columnist and analyst, “Representatives of 69% of the people have succeeded and Imran Khan has been voted out by 174 members of the parliament out of the total 342. This majority was achieved without the help of 25-30 dissenting members of the PTI. It was shameful for someone who got just 31% of the popular vote to claim that he alone and nobody else represented Pakistan; he alone was a patriot and the rest traitors; and he alone knew better than anyone.”
Nazar noted that “Imran poisoned politics with complete lies, fabricated stories, abusive rhetoric, hateful and vicious propaganda tactics against his opponents. He was a dangerous, narcissist, reckless, megalomaniac, and a know-it-all hypocrite who was surrounded by corrupt and incompetent people. Imran Khan wrecked the economy, leaving Pakistan with the highest level of debt burden of its history, the lowest level of currency ever, and the third highest level of inflation in the world. He continued to lie till the last minute about a fabricated foreign conspiracy whereas there was absolutely none. According to reports, Chief of Army Staff Gen Bajwa met him late Saturday evening and asked him to respect the unanimous verdict of the Supreme Court. Only then did he surrender, ending his term in disgrace instead of resigning graciously.”
Khan’s Naya Pakistan, Nazar pointed out was one where “Newspaper distribution was interrupted, media outlets were threatened with the withdrawal of advertising and TV channel signals were jammed. Journalists who crossed the ‘red lines’ were threatened, abducted and tortured. In the shadows, behind Khan in the limelight, Pakistan relived some of the worst moments of its past military dictatorships.”
