ISLAMABAD — Pakistan Prime Minister Imran
Khan’s future looked increasingly in doubt Wednesday after a key coalition partner
switched allegiance ahead of a parliamentary no-confidence vote this weekend.
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No prime minister in the country’s history has seen
out a full term, and Khan is facing the biggest challenge to his rule since
being elected in 2018, with opponents accusing him of economic mismanagement
and foreign-policy bungling.
“He will fight until the last over and the last
ball,” Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told reporters, using a cricket
analogy to describe Khan — one of the sport’s all-time international greats
before he entered politics.
Debate on the no-confidence motion is due to start
Thursday, leaving Khan scrambling to keep his own Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf
(PTI) members on side — as well as a slew of minority parties.
The country’s government is also battling to contain
a rise in militancy by the Pakistani Taliban (TTP), which on Wednesday
announced a Ramadan offensive against security forces.
The group said it will start on the first day of the
Muslim fasting month, Ramadan, which begins on Sunday or Monday.
The military said six of its troops had been killed
near the border with Afghanistan on Wednesday in an attack claimed by the TTP.
Khan had been due to address the nation on Wednesday
evening, but it was later postponed without a reason.
On paper Khan’s ruling PTI and coalition partners
have 176 seats in the 342-member assembly, but on Wednesday the Muttahida Qaumi
Movement (MQM-P) said its seven lawmakers would vote with the opposition, which
has a combined 163 seats.
More than a dozen PTI lawmakers have also indicated
they will cross the floor, although party leaders are trying to get the courts
to prevent them from voting on Sunday.
In the past, Pakistan parties have also resorted to
physically preventing lawmakers from voting against key legislation by blocking
access to the national assembly, leading to cat-and-mouse chases and even
accusations of kidnapping.
Senior MQM-P leader Faisal Subzwari tweeted
Wednesday that his party had finalized an agreement with the opposition, led by
the Pakistan People Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N).
Hours later, MQM-P heavyweight Syed Amin-Ul-Haque announced
his resignation as tech minister in Khan’s cabinet.
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