Pakistani parliamentarians violently challenged each other on Saturday at the opening of the session which should see Prime Minister Imran Khan be overthrown by a motion of censure.
The President of the National Assembly adjourned the session at the beginning of the afternoon, after 30 minutes of stormy discussions.
MPs are expected to vote no confidence in Mr Khan, who was not present.
Some of his allies in the ruling coalition have defected and members of his own party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI, Pakistan Justice Movement), have announced they will support the motion.
The opposition would have at least 177 votes, when 172 are required to obtain a majority and overthrow the government.
No vote of confidence to confirm the name of a new prime minister is yet on the agenda for Saturday’s session, but that could change at the last minute.
Shehbaz Sharif, the leader of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) and younger brother of Nawaz Sharif, who was three times prime minister, is expected to take up the post.
Tension rose in the morning when Shehbaz Sharif demanded that the vote take place without delay. “You will conduct the procedure in the Assembly in accordance with the judgment of the Supreme Court,” he demanded, furious.
“It is my duty” to defend the government’s position, replied Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, saying that the government was facing the no-confidence motion “in accordance with the law and the Constitution”.
– ‘Foreign interference’ –
Friday evening, Mr. Khan had assured in an address to the Nation to have “accepted the judgment of the Supreme Court”, which led to the holding of this vote on the motion of censure.
But he repeated his accusations of the last days according to which he was the victim of a conspiracy hatched by the United States.
The former cricket star called on his supporters to demonstrate calmly on Sunday and said he “would not accept” the new government.
The capital Islamabad was placed under very tight security on Saturday, with thousands of police patrolling the streets and containers preventing access to the area where the main administrative buildings are located.
The Court ruled that Mr. Khan and his supporters had acted illegally by refusing to put the motion of no confidence to a vote last Sunday, on the grounds that it was the result of “foreign interference”, and by deciding to dissolve the Assembly, which paved the way for early elections within three months.
The country’s highest court ordered that the Assembly be restored and the vote on the motion of no confidence take place.
Imran Khan, 69, who was elected in 2018 by taking advantage of voter fatigue with the PML-N and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), the two parties that dominated with the army national political life for decades, has violently attacked them in recent days.
He accused them of treason, for having intrigued with the United States in order to obtain his departure. Washington has denied any involvement.
– Electoral calendar –
According to him, the United States, already offended by his repeated criticism of American policy in Iraq or Afghanistan, were embittered by his visit to Moscow on the very day of the outbreak of war in Ukraine.
Whatever the name of Imran Khan’s successor, a heavy task awaits him. The challenges are many, starting with the recovery of an economy characterized by high inflation, a steadily depreciating rupee and worrying debt.
Security is also deteriorating. Galvanized by the coming to power of the Taliban in August in Afghanistan, the Pakistani Taliban of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) have increased their attacks in recent months.
The opposition had in the past said it was in favor of early elections, but only after it secured the departure of Mr. Khan.
These elections must be called by October 2023. But once in power, the opposition will be able to set its own electoral calendar, and also influence a series of cases opened against it under the Khan government.
The Election Commission estimates that it will take at least seven months to be ready to hold an election, according to Pakistani media.
Pakistan, a nuclear-armed Islamic republic of 220 million, is used to political crises. The country has spent more than three decades under military rule and no prime minister has served out his term since independence in 1947.
The military, key to political power, which was accused of supporting Mr Khan in 2018, has not publicly intervened in recent days.