Pakistani prime minister calls early elections after deputy speaker blocks no-confidence vote

Supporters of Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan celebrating

(Image credit: Muhammad Reza/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan narrowly survived an attempt to remove him from power on Sunday after the deputy speaker of Pakistan's parliament blocked a no-confidence vote, declaring it unconstitutional, CNN reports.

Opposition leader Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that blocking the no-confidence vote was itself unconstitutional and that Pakistan's Supreme Court will decide the matter.

On Saturday, when his ouster seemed like a foregone conclusion, Khan said he would not accept the results of vote. He also told reporters from The New York Times and other outlets that the no-confidence vote was an American attempt to implement "regime change" in Pakistan. Khan, a former cricket star who took office in 2018, has aligned Pakistan more closely with Russia and China and praised the Taliban when they took control of Afghanistan last summer.

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After the vote was blocked, Khan called for early elections in an attempt to shore up his power, per CNN. No Pakistani prime minister has completed a full five-year term since the country gained independence in 1947.

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Grayson Quay was the weekend editor at TheWeek.com. His writing has also been published in National Review, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Modern Age, The American Conservative, The Spectator World, and other outlets. Grayson earned his M.A. from Georgetown University in 2019.