Imran's chair is gone! / Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan left the ruling coalition, now the formality of the no-confidence motion remains

The departure of the nearly four-year-old Imran Khan government of Pakistan has been decided. With this, the political crisis in the country may deepen further. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) has also severed ties with the ruling coalition led by PM Imran Khan. He has announced to support the opposition in the vote on the no-confidence motion.

The MQM-P leaving Imran's party Pakistan-Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is a big setback, as the number of its supporters and MPs is continuously decreasing. His government has come down to a minority. According to Geo TV, the Imran government has lost majority in the lower house of the Pakistani parliament, even though the vote on the no-confidence motion in the Pakistan National Assembly is due on April 3 and will be followed by a formal collapse.

The total number of members of the National Assembly of Pakistan is 342. The majority requires the support of 172 MPs. The Imran-led PTI alliance had 179 members, but has been reduced to 164 members after the MQM-P quit. On the other hand, the number of opposition has increased to 177. Imran's 24 MPs are said to be rebels, now even if they do not support the opposition on the no-confidence motion, the government will fall.

The MQM-P decided to extend support to the opposition after both sides signed a draft prepared by Karachi administrator Murtaza Wahab. Pakistan's Geo TV quoted sources as saying that the signatories included Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif, Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Pakistan People's Party co-chair Asif Ali Zardari.

MQM-P leader Faizal Subjwari has confirmed his party is with the opposition. He tweeted that the agreement between United Opposition and MQM-P has been finalised. Earlier on Tuesday, the MQM-P had asked the government to fulfill three demands to put pressure on the ruling party. These included safe return of over 100 missing party workers, reopening of sealed party offices and elimination of false and baseless cases against party leaders and workers. MQM-P leader Wasim Akhtar said that if the Punjab Chief Minister's slot can be given to a party with only five seats in the National Assembly (PML-Q), then MQM-P has seven members.