End game: No way out

ISLAMABAD: Opposition leaders have conveyed to the government quarters that there are only two ways the current political deadlock in the country could end; either the prime minister resigns voluntarily, or the vote of no- confidence takes place in the National Assembly. All other proposals for a settlement have been rejected, multiple sources familiar with these developments told The News.

With the vote on the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan likely to take place on April 3, last minute efforts went into motion late last night to end the current crisis with some face-saving both for the PTI and the opposition.

However, these efforts have come to naught as the opposition has refused to withdraw the vote of no-confidence motion and allow the beleaguered prime minister an exit via fresh elections.

An opposition leader claimed the prime minister told the military leadership that he was ready to call new elections and seek a fresh mandate if the opposition withdrew the motion for the vote of no confidence.

Numbers for the opposition's vote of no confidence have swelled to 199; these include nearly two dozen dissident members of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-I-Insaf (PTI). The opposition requires support of 172 members to claim the premiership in the 342-member strong National Assembly.

Sunday April 3 the National Assembly will meet when the maximum period allowed in the Constitution for the vote ends. "There has been a concerted effort among various stakeholders to agree to a unanimous framework to end the political deadlock, which is not good for the country,” claimed a federal minister who wished to stay anonymous in a telephone conversation with The News.

He did not clarify who were the interlocutors making efforts for an exit strategy that would give both the government and the opposition a face saving and avoid a meltdown of the political order.

Federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry told newsmen that the Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa and the Director General of Inter-Services Intelligence met PM Khan on Wednesday, though he did not reveal any details about what transpired in the meeting.

A proposal for reconciliation without the resignation has been shot down by the opposition, a key official of the combined opposition told The News. "Nothing can be done now. Only the constitutional process can be followed," a senior official from the government attached department said.

"The establishment will remain neutral and will not take sides except upholding the procedures outlined in the Constitution," the official said. Under the 1973 Constitution, Prime Minister Khan cannot dissolve the assembly unless the vote of no confidence is either defeated or withdrawn by the opposition.

Prime Minister Khan has insisted that the vote of no confidence against him is an international conspiracy and that the plot had been revealed in a telegram sent by a Pakistani diplomat from abroad. Though officially the ambassador and the name of the host country have not been revealed, information shared privately says the telegram was sent by Asad Majeed, Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States.

Prime Minister Khan in his televised addressed to the nation said it came from America, but quickly withdrew the name saying he wasn’t supposed to say it. The telegram was delivered on March 7, a day before the vote of no- confidence was tabled. The prime minister had made no mention of this telegram until March 27.