Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan faces a crucial test when a no-confidence motion will be brought up against him on Sunday.
Khan, an avid cricketer, on Friday said that will not resign and has vowed to fight till the end and face the no-confidence vote on Sunday.
Ahead of Sunday's no-confidence motion in the National Assembly, Khan said the “establishment” (the powerful military) gave him three options - no-confidence vote, early elections or resignation as the Prime Minister.
Addressing the nation, Khan urged citizens to give him a simple majority should the country go for early polls and alleged his life was at risk.
Why is there a no confidence motion against him?
The no-confidence resolution against Prime Minister Khan was tabled by the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif on March 28.
Khan, 69, came to power in 2018 with promises to create a ‘Naya Pakistan’ but miserably failed to address the basic problem of keeping the prices of commodities in control, giving air to the sails of opposition ships to make war on his government.
Khan has been accused of deliberately delaying the extension of Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa's tenure in 2019 - to taint the process in "controversy," and that his party was behind a social media campaign targeting the country's armed forces.
The opposition is headed by the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) and the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) -- two usually feuding dynastic groups that dominated national politics for decades until Khan forged a coalition against them.
He was elected after promising to sweep away decades of entrenched corruption and cronyism, but has struggled to maintain support with inflation skyrocketing, a feeble rupee and crippling debt.
Some analysts say Khan has also lost the crucial support of the military -- claims both sides deny -- and Pakistan's army is key to political power.
Why is he in the soup?
Khan needs 172 votes in the lower house of 342 to foil the Opposition's bid to topple him.
Part of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the Prime Minister is struggling to keep his own party members on his side.
The cricketer-turned-politician lost majority after several members defected from his PTI party.
Two of his allied parties also withdrew their support and joined the ranks of the Opposition.
On Wednesday, a key ally of the PTI coalition government, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM-P) said its seven lawmakers would side with the opposition, leaving the Imran Khan government
In a bid to shore up support Monday he nominated Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi as chief minister of Punjab province, the country's richest and most populous.
Elahi is a leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q) and had apparently been wavering in support for Khan, but party officials said his appointment should guarantee their five votes.
On paper, the coalition government comprises 155 members of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and 23 from coalition partners, including five each from Pakistan Muslim League (PML) and Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), three from Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA), one each from Awami Muslim League (AML) and Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP) and one independent member.
The total opposition number is 163, including 84 from PML-N, 56 PPP, 15 Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal Pakistan, four Balochistan National Party (BNP), one Awami National Party (ANP) and three independent lawmakers.
Excluding MQM-P's votes (which moved from coalition to opposition) the joint opposition had managed to accumulate the support of 169 MNAs against, Imran Khan, The Dawn reported.
What happens if Imran Khan loses the vote?
If Khan loses the vote, parliament can continue to function until its five-year tenure ends in August 2023, after which a general election is due within 60 days.
There will be a vote in the National Assembly to elect a new prime minister to serve until then. Candidates can be put forward by any party with legislators in the Assembly.
The new prime minister can, however, call a general election immediately, without waiting until 2023.
An unusual leadership
No Pakistani prime minister has ever completed a full five-year term in office. Also, no prime minister has been ousted through a no-confidence motion in the last 50 years, and Khan is the third premier to face the challenge.
Khan came to power in 2018 with promises to create a ‘Naya Pakistan’ but miserably failed to address the basic problem of keeping the prices of commodities in control, giving air to the sails of opposition ships to make war on his government.
(Compiled with agency inputs)
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