ISLAMABAD: The chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, has announced his party will launch an anti-government march to the capital from February 27, starting from the mausoleum of the founder of Pakistan in Karachi.
The announcement comes as the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan grapples with a chronic economic crisis and rising inflation as well as reports of strained ties with the all-powerful military.
“From 27th February we will begin our #AwamiMarch from Karachi to Islamabad,” Bhutto-Zardari said on Twitter. “We march against this selected government and the economic disaster they have caused.”
The announcement also follows the announcement by an alliance of opposition parties, the Pakistan Democratic Movement, that it will file a no-trust move against the government in parliament.
The constitution of Pakistan has provision for a no confidence motion in all constituents of the Electoral College of the state. The motions can target speakers and deputy speakers of provincial and national assemblies, the prime minister, chief ministers of provinces, as well as the chairman and deputy chairman of Senate. Before it can be put for vote on the floor of the house, it must have the backing of at least 20 percent of the elected members in all cases except those moved against speakers or deputy speakers in which case there is no minimum. After being put to vote, the motion is deemed to be successful only if passed by a majority.
The no confidence procedure has historically been mostly used to remove speakers and deputy speakers. Of the 11 times that the motion has been invoked, nine cases targeted those posts, with four being effective.
An incumbent prime minister of Pakistan has only been subject to a no confidence vote once, in November 1989, when Benazir Bhutto faced an ultimately unsuccessful motion by Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi. The same is the case for a provincial chief minister, as the only instance of its use is the one moved against Balochistan CM Sanaullah Zehri in January 2018, who resigned before the vote could take place.