Pakistan PM Imran Khan meets Gen Bajwa as crisis deepens; to meet PTI members on March 19

In a major development as the political crisis in Pakistan deepens, Prime Minister Imran Khan met Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Friday. This comes as opposition parties in Pakistan filed a no-confidence motion against Imran Khan on March 8. Meanwhile, Imran Khan's party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is also set to issue show-cause notice to dissident MPs. According to sources, the party was already working on the show-cause notice.

Sources further added that the show-cause notice is being sent to the dissident lawmakers after it emerged that multiple PTI Members of National Assembly (MNAs) were seeking refuge in the Sindh House Islamabad due to fear of the government. This comes as nearly two dozen disgruntled lawmakers from Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's ruling party have openly threatened to vote against him on the no-confidence motion tabled in Parliament by the Opposition. 

Meanwhile, as crisis deepens and tensions mount for him, Imran Khan on Friday wrote a letter to members of the national assembly asking them to abstain from voting on the no-confidence motion against him. Moreover, Khan is also holding a massive rally where over 10 lakh people are invited, Pakistan's Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad announced. Rasheed also hit out at the dissenting PTI leaders who were holed up in the Sindh House. 

"PM is holding Rally, 10 Lakh people invited. The opposition too is holding a rally. You have deployed 480 security personnel in Sindh house, we won’t enter Sindh house. I want to assure you that we won’t enter. Two weeks from March 18 to April 4 is important for Pakistan," said Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad.

In the latest update, the Pakistan Prime Minister is set to convene a meeting with members of the ruling party, PTI, on March 19, Saturday, ahead of the no-confidence vote. The meeting is to take place in the afternoon.

No-confidence motion against PM Imran Khan 

Around 100 lawmakers from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) submitted a no-confidence motion before the National Assembly Secretariat on March 8, alleging that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) government led by Khan was responsible for the economic crisis and the spiralling inflation in the country. The National Assembly session for the move is expected to be convened on March 21 and the voting is likely to be held on March 28.

(With PTI inputs)

Image: PTI