Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s ruling party has split and a senior member has formed a breakaway group, putting the government and its thin parliamentary majority at risk.
Jahangir Tareen, who’s recently fallen out with Khan, is backed by 40 lawmakers of the federal National Assembly and provincial Punjab Assembly, Dawn newspaper reports, citing Raja Riaz, the leader of the new group. Khan’s party has 156 members out of a total 342 seats in the federal assembly and 181 of total 369 members in the largest Punjab provincial assembly.
It’s the latest round of political turmoil for Khan, who won a vote of confidence in March with 52% votes to continue as prime minister after his then finance minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh unexpectedly lost his Senate seat in an election.
The South Asian nation is looking to boost growth economy with a newly appointed finance minister Shaukat Tarin and renegotiate terms with the International Monetary Fund for its $6 billion loan program. The minister has said the economy needs to expand by 5% next year, one percentage point higher than the IMF’s 4% projection.
Tareen, a businessman and sugar tycoon, is seen as a king-maker and is known to have wooed many politicians to join Khan’s political party, helping him win the elections that made him the prime minister in 2018. Tareen is currently being investigated in a corruption case.
Dear Reader,
Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.
We, however, have a request.
As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.
Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.
Digital Editor
RECOMMENDED FOR YOU