Just less 24 hours before Pakistan's parliament is set to hold a vote on no-confidence in Prime Minister Imran Khan, a close ally of the cricketer-turned-politician has parted ways with him.
Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP) chief Nawabzada Shahzain Bugti, who was serving as Imran’s special assistant on reconciliation and harmony in Balochistan, resigned on Sunday afternoon, nearly an hour before Imran's "power show" in Islamabad.
In recent weeks, more than 20 lawmakers deserted Imran, leaving him short of the minimum 172 that he needs for a simple majority in parliament.
After a meeting with Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari at his residence on Sunday, Bugti announced that he would support the opposition in the wake of the no-confidence motion, reports the Express Tribune.
He further said the government did not provide money for a transmission line, blood bank, and laboratory in the province. “Similarly, we asked 100 scholarships for the youth of Balochistan,” he said while going on to list his unfulfilled demands.
Bugti said in a bid to “save his politics” PM Imran announced 500 billion Pakistani rupees for development in south Punjab. “We do not oppose this but couldn’t the government give Balochistan even 8 billion Pakistani rupees [for uplift projects]?
Bugti hoped the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) will address their concerns. “The volatile situation in Balochistan is a major issue,” he added.
Addressing a press conference alongside Bilawal, Bugti said PM Imran failed to fulfill his promise of bringing development to Balochistan. The situation in the province was precarious, he said, adding that the federal government couldn’t improve a single thing.
Imran’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), staged a massive rally in the capital, with the premier in a last-ditch attempt also dispatching a team of senior PTI leaders to meet the allies and assure them that their reservations would be addressed.
Set to be tabled on Monday, the motion will have to be followed by seven days of debate before an actual vote.
The political turmoil comes as Pakistan faces a recurring economic crisis, and the government is banking on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to release the next tranche of a $6 billion rescue package to shore up dwindling foreign currency reserves.
Imran Khan, a former captain of Pakistan's national cricket team, came to power in 2018, after the leaders of the country's two mainstream parties were discredited by accusations of corruption.
Political analysts say the country's powerful military had supported Imran's rise to power, and that the generals have now become disenchanted with his leadership. But Imran has denied receiving backing from the military.
During the latest power struggle the military has said it would remain neutral, leaving it to political parties to decide Imran's fate.
Political analysts expected Imran's supporters to use the weekend to persuade some of the turncoats to return to the fold.
Meantime, an IMF review that was scheduled for this week has yet to happen, and undermined by political uncertainty the rupee remains under pressure, with the central bank's foreign currency reserves having fallen to $14.9 billion as of March 18.
