Pakistan’s Premier Shehbaz Sharif Wins Sudden Confidence Vote

Kamran Haider and Ismail Dilawar
·3 min read
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(Bloomberg) -- Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif won a confidence vote in parliament in a show of force against his rival and former premier Imran Khan who is pushing for early elections and counting on a top court to back him.

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Sharif on Thursday won the support of 180 lawmakers, eight more than needed in the lower house of parliament, according to the speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf. The vote outcome is not a surprise since Khan’s party, which is the main opposition, quit the National Assembly last year after he was ousted.

There had been speculation in local media that Sharif would call a confidence vote, which his government had denied. However, in a surprise move, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari — the foreign minister and a key Sharif ally — put forward a resolution on Thursday afternoon for the vote, which was swiftly taken up and passed by lawmakers.

The vote was seen as a means to politically shore up Sharif, who said in a speech after the motion that the Supreme Court was threatening to disqualify him for not complying with an order to hold local elections in the most populous province of Punjab. Pakistan’s parliament has at least twice rejected court orders requesting it to release funds to hold the provincial polls.

“This parliament has given a vote of confidence to me today,” Sharif said after counting the number of prime ministers, including his brother Nawaz Sharif, who were disqualified in the past. “My government is standing with them.”

Analysts said the confidence vote was a show of strength for Sharif who is grappling with a raft of challenges, including securing a bailout from the International Monetary Fund to avoid a default and countering a rise in militant attacks.

“It does not have any other impact,” said Hassan Askari Rizvi, a Lahore-based political analyst. “It won’t make any difference on the current political crisis, unless the contentious issue of elections is resolved.”

Khan’s party had forced the dissolution of the state assembly of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where it holds majorities, in a bid to pressurize the government to call an early national vote. Sharif has repeatedly rebuffed this, saying a general election will take place once his administration completes its term in August.

According to the constitution, elections, whether provincial or national, must be held within 90 days of a dissolution. This has already lapsed for the two provinces and now the nation’s top court is currently hearing a case on the delay.

“Please for the sake of the constitution, sit with each other,” Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial was cited as saying by local media before the the parliament vote on Thursday, urging Khan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf party and the government to meet.

Sharif later confirmed to parliament that his government will hold talks with Khan’s PTI, with the main agenda being to ensure elections will be held on the same day. Traditionally Pakistan holds national and provincial elections at the same time.

Representatives from the ruling coalition and the opposition held the first round of talks Thursday evening, and are expected to meet again at 3 p.m. Friday, local media reported, citing an official from a political party allied with Sharif.

“We agreed not to employ any delaying tactics and assured each other that sincere efforts would be made to find a good solution,” Senator Ali Zafar, who is part of the opposition party’s negotiating team, was cited as saying by local media.

--With assistance from Francesca Stevens and Khalid Qayum.

(Updates with recast and fresh details throughout.)

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