Pakistan Parliament Rejects Khan's No-confidence Motion

According to PM Khan, he recommended the president dissolve Parliament and hold new elections

Imran Khan has avoided being deposed as Pakistan's prime minister after the deputy speaker of Parliament declared a no-confidence resolution invalid.

Khan, whose future remains unknown, later recommended the country's president dismiss Parliament, causing further political unrest in the nuclear-armed nation of 220 million people.

On Sunday, the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party's deputy speaker denied the action against Khan, claiming it violated Article 5 of the Constitution.

According to the Pakistani news website Dawn.com, "Loyalty to the State is the basic duty of every citizen," and "obedience to the Constitution and law is the [inviolable] obligation of every citizen wherever he may be and of every other person for the time being within Pakistan," according to Article 5.

"When the president receives the advice, the assemblies will be dissolved, and the process of forming a caretaker administration will begin," Khan said in a live speech on state-run station PTV.

"We have decided to stage a sit-in in the National Assembly unless a vote on the no-confidence resolution is held," PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari told reporters.

"As a result of this breach, we've contacted the Supreme Court."

On Sunday, Pakistan's embattled Prime Minister was set to face a no-confidence vote after the opposition claimed it had the necessary votes to win.

To topple Khan, a cricketer-turned-politician, the opposition requires a simple majority of 172 votes in Pakistan's 342-seat Parliament.

Key members of his small but powerful coalition, as well as 17 members of his own party, have joined the opposition to force him out.

On Sunday, massive metal containers obstructed roads and entrances to the capital's diplomatic enclave, Parliament, and other key government buildings.

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