Imran ousted as Pak PM in the midnight trust vote
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Islamabad: As widely expected, the successful no-trust motion in the Parliament showed the door to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan late on Saturday night.
174 of the 342-strong National Assembly (NA) voted in favour of the resolution, making Imran Khan the first prime minister to be thus voted out from the office.
In two earlier instances, Shaukat Aziz in 2006, and Benazir Bhutto in 1989, survived the moves against them without setting a history in Pakistan's fragile democracy.
Imran Khan's efforts to outmaneuver a stronger Opposition miserably fell through, despite his cries of foreign involvement in Pakistan politics.
Pakistan's Supreme Court ensured ahead that no-trust motion be held in compliance of its April 7 order.
Pakistan media reported prison vans waiting outside the National Assembly to take away officials in the off chance of their defying the court order, according to the reports.
Speaker Asad Qaiser and Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri, both from Imran's Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf party, resigned and Ayaz Sadiq of the opposition PML-N took charge of the proceedings.
In a more dramatic turn, Islamabad High Court late on Saturday night was about to consider a petition seeking to stop Imran Khan from ousting General Bajwa as the Army Chief.
However Imran Khan denied any plans to sack the Army Chief, reports say.
Voting on the resolution, according to Dawn, began at 11.58 and the House was adjourned for four minutes as per the rules that do not allow continuing a session past midnight.
The session was started again at 12.02 to seek what 342-strong house would decide on the no-trust motion against Imran Khan Government, which came in power riding on Imran Khan's cricket fandom and his rhetoric to fighting corruption and fixing economy.
Cornered on a slippery slope, Khan reportedly said he not would accept Opposition government claiming that there was a US-led conspiracy to oust him because of his refusal to stand with Washington.
His oft-repeated foreign influence has not yet been borne out by any evidence.
As per the procedure and rules, the house would have to wait for the approval of President on the no-confidence motion to start the process of electing a new Prime Minister.