Pakistan's PM wins vote of confidence amid calls for his resignation
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has won a vote of confidence amid pressure by the opposition to leave power.
Khan managed to secure 178 votes in the 342-member lower house of Parliament during a special session convened by President Arif Alvi on Saturday.
A total of 172 votes were needed for a simple majority.
The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) – an alliance of 11 parties – boycotted the voting.
His government’s legitimacy faced uncertainty after Khan’s finance minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh was defeated in the Senate election on Wednesday.
Khan sought the vote of trust after he came under pressure by the opposition to resign.
In a televised speech on Thursday, Khan said, “I will take a vote of confidence. I will ask my members to show if they have confidence in me. If they say they have no confidence, I will sit on Opposition benches."
“If I am out of the government, I will go to the people and bring them out to continue my struggle for the country. I will not let these traitors (who plundered the country) sit in peace,” he added.
He also accused the opposition alliance of "making a mockery of democracy," saying that he will never let the corrupt off the hook.
In the wake of the Senate vote, Pakistan's Army and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) met with the prime minister, Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper reported.
The meeting was held to review the “internal and external situation,” it said. The prime minister's office issued no statement on the meeting though.
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