No Pak PM Has Completed A Full Term. Will Imran Khan Join The List?

Pakistan opposition parties are demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Imran Khan, after MQM - a key ally of the ruling Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) - decided to support their no-confidence motion. The demands are getting shriller ahead of a voting on the no-confidence motion moved by the opposition in Parliament. The voting on the motion is scheduled to take place over the weekend.

The speculation around his resignation arose after Khan cancelled his address to the nation on Wednesday. But according to Pakistan Prime Minister's key aide - minister Fawad Chaudhary - the cricketer-turned-politician will "fight till the last ball".

No Pakistan Prime Minister has been able to complete the full term and if Khan resigns, he will join the long list.

Since 1947, when Pakistan gained Independence, Pakistan has had a bumpy ride, as four civilian governments have been thrown away by military coups. In the turbulent decade of 1950s, the Constitution was abrogated by President Iskander Mirza and Martial Law was imposed in 1958.

After 13 years of Martial Law, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto became the President of Pakistan. After the Constitution was passed under special arrangement in 1973, he resigned from the post and became the Prime Minister of Pakistan.

Bhutto won the elections in 1977, but was deposed through a coup d'état by Army General Zia-ul-Haq the same year.

After General Zia-ul-Haq's death in a plane crash in 1988, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's daughter Benazir became the Prime Minister of Pakistan. But her rule only lasted for three years, as she had to resign in 1990 after the President dissolved the National Assembly (lower house of Parliament) following difference with her.

She was replaced by Nawaz Sharif, who had launched a campaign against government corruption and promised to improve Pakistan's infrastructure. But he too, had to resign as Prime Minister in 1993 under pressure from Pakistan's military, which has cast a shadow on the civilian leadership in the country since beginning.

Benazir Bhutto did not win the 1993 elections, but her party emerged as the single-largest, giving her a chance to lead the country once again. But this term was fraught with allegations of corruption, sectarian violence and terror attacks. On November 5, 1996, President Farooq Leghari dissolved the National Assembly, leaving Bhutto once again out of power.

The next election in February 1997 was won by Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League, but in October 1999, General Pervez Musharraf imposed emergency in the country throwing him out of power.

Three Prime Ministers served under Musharraf's rule - Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, Chaudhary Shujaat and Shaukat Aziz.

In the 2008 general elections, Pakistan People's Party (PPP) secured majority in the National Assembly and Yusuf Raza Gilani was elected as the PM. His term was going smoothly, till Gilani was convicted in a contempt of court case in the Supreme Court in 2012. The rest of his term was completed by Raja Pervaiz Ashraf.

Nawaz Sharif again became the Prime Minister in 2013, but his term was cut short due to the Panama Papers case. He was removed from office by the Pakistan Supreme Court in 2017 and the remaining term was completed by Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.

Imran Khan became the Prime Minister of Pakistan in 2018 - an ascension widely believed to be backed by the Pakistani Army. His term too has been full of allegations of corruption, with the opposition moving a no-confidence motion seeking his ouster, largely on accusations of economic mismanagement.

The bid to oust Khan got a boost on Wednesday when a key government ally said it reached a pact with the opposition and then quit Khan's ruling coalition.