I will not quit at any cost: PM Imran Khan says ahead of no-trust vote

Islamabad : Only days earlier, Prime Minister Imran Khan threatened his MPs with disgrace in the society if they choose to desert him.

Now, just days away from no-confidence motion on Friday, Imran Khan says that he will not bow down to pressure building up around him.

The Prime Minister seems to be more desperate and is hard put to fight a losing battle against a formidable opposition.

Since coming to power in 2018, the former cricketer has never faced a greater challenge and a crisis of similar vein however is not new in Pakistan's chequered history of democracy.

If he has to bow out from the no-confidence motion, it would create a history of sorts in the nation.

An alliance of opposition parties called for a no-confidence motion on March 8 accusing him of bad governance and incompetence.

His falling out with Pakistan's military, which is credited with bringing Khan to power, has rendered him way weaker than he was in 2018.

Against this backdrop, Imran Khan's latest reiteration of not bowing out of power seems to be curious. Has he got anything to hold against his rivals?

He stated that he would never lay down his armoury to the opposition parties whom he called corrupt, thieves and frauds.

The astute politician that he is, Khan plays down the mounting pressure on him claiming that the opposition is on a weak footing.

Maybe for keeping his opponents on tenterhooks, he says he still holds the trump card and other cards all have been exposed.

Appearing overly self-confident, Khan predicted that he would win the match of the non-confidence motion, according to IANS.

He tried to cut the opposition to the quick saying that they were ignorant of how many them they would have on the day of no-trust move.

There were allegations of horse-trading and bribing of MPs taking place across the political divide.

Opposition parties earlier claimed defections from ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). Following which, Imran Khan at a rally threatened turncoats with disgrace in the society saying that nobody would marry their children.

Khan also said that external elements are trying to defame the Pakistan Army amid the current political turmoil.

Khan's confidence ahead of the March 25 session of the National Assembly, where a no-confidence motion against him is scheduled to be tabled, seems to indicate that his party has already formulated a strategy to extend the dates of the voting and use that time to engage with the defected members, according to IANS.