With a vote of no-confidence looming over his government, Pakistan’s prime minister, Imran Khan, warned those planning to vote against him that they risk social disgrace, and that “no one will marry your children”.
The no-confidence vote is expected to be tabled on Friday 25 March, backed by a coalition of politicians who accuse Khan of bad governance and economic incompetence. In January inflation reached 13% and the cost of fuel and food rocketed.
The opposition party claims that it has the support of more than 20 lawmakers of Khan’s Tehreek-i-Insaf party (PTI) and its allies. Khan also appeared to have lost the backing of the military establishment credited with bringing him to power. The votes would be enough to oust him.
Talking to a public rally on Sunday in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Khan told party members who planned to vote against him: “Your children and families would lose respect and honour in society. No one will marry your children. People will neither trust you nor respect you. Masses are aware of the situation and what is happening in the country. This is the age of social media. It’s difficult to hide anything from them.”
Khan asked them to change their minds. “I would forgive you like a father, or face disrespect in the society,” he warned in his speech.
The information minister, Fawad Chaudhry, said more than a million people would gather in front of the parliament on the day of the vote in order to prevent it going ahead.
Disruption followed, and a crowd of Khan’s supporters gathered outside Sindh House, in Islamabad, where some of the politicians who support the no-confidence were, and the gate was broken.
On Monday Karachi police charged two PTI politicians and others with rioting and forcibly entering the residence of politician Dr Ramesh Kumar Vankwani in the city’s Bath Island area.
Khan and his ministers have accused the opposition parties of horse trading and bribing their politicians. The allegations have been denied by the opposition and disgruntled lawmakers.
A PTI politician, Noor Alam Khan, told local media he was “very disappointed to hear the fake allegations against the lawmakers”.
Human Rights Watch said it feared violence before the no-confidence vote. The group urged the government and opposition to “deter supporters from violence” amid the threat of political turmoil.
On Monday, during a hearing on the issue, the supreme court of Pakistan said members of the national assembly should be allowed to vote for whoever they wanted. The court also directed the government and the opposition to avoid gathering a crowd outside the parliament.
The attorney general, representing the government, said he had talked to the prime minister and “there will be no crowd outside the assembly during the session. No [lawmaker] will be stopped by crowds”.
