Imran Khan vacates his official residence minutes before trust vote

|HT|

Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan had vacated his official residence minutes before he was voted out in the no-confidence vote. Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI) leader Faisal Javed Khan tweeted on the 69-year-old cricketer-turned-politician leaving his residence at Bani Galla.

“Just saw off Prime Minister Imran Khan from Prime Minister House. He walked out gracefully and didn't bow down. He has lifted the entire Nation. Feeling proud to be a Pakistani and blessed to have a leader like him. Pakistan Khan - Imran Khan,” the PTI leader had tweeted.

Imran Khan became the first Pakistani prime minister to lose the no-confidence motion in the country's politics. After several attempts to block the trust vote, the 342-member national assembly witnessed 174 lawmakers casting their vote against the majority mark of 172 to remove the ruling government. "Consequently the motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan has been passed," Ayaz Sadiq, who officiated voting after speaker Asad Qaiser resigned, announced in the house. Khan was not present during the voting in the national assembly. His lawmakers staged a walkout during the voting. The dissident lawmakers were present during the no-confidence vote. Imran Khan continued the trend of no Pakistani prime minister completing full final term. The former cricket captain ruled the country for three years, seven months and 23 days, a tenure which the opposition alleges was fraught with economic slump and alleged failures in fulfilling election promises. Khan apparently lost support of the powerful Pakistani Army after he refused to endorse the appointment of the ISI spy agency chief last year. Although he agreed, but it soured his ties with the powerful army, which has ruled the country for more than three decades.

(Except for the headline and the pictorial description, this story has not been edited by THE DEN staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)