No Prime Minister in Pakistan has ever seen out a full term.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is all set to address the nation today, ahead of a no-confidence vote against him which he is likely to lose. After a dramatic week where Mr Khan has already dodged a no-confidence vote, he may resign to save face.
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The Supreme Court on Thursday overturned a move by PM Khan to block a parliamentary vote seeking to oust him. The dismissal of the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan was "unconstitutional", the Pakistan Supreme Court said.
The deputy speaker had blocked a no-confidence motion against him and the President, seen as the PM's loyalist, dissolved the parliament and ordered fresh elections.
The court reconstituted the national assembly and ordered the Speaker to call a session. The no-confidence vote against Prime Minister Imran Khan will now be held on Saturday at 10 am.
There's widespread speculation that Imran Khan may resign rather than face the indignity of being voted out -- or that the former international cricket star might pull off another surprise.
If Mr Khan loses, he will be the first Prime Minister to be removed through a no-trust vote. The opposition could then nominate its own Prime Minister and hold power until August 2023, by which date fresh elections have to be held.
Two other Prime Ministers against whom a no-confidence motion was called, resigned before the vote. But Mr Khan had refused to step down, insisting that he would "play till the last ball".
Mr Khan's interior minister gave a hint of what might come, telling reporters he had long pressed for PTI (Mr Khan's party) lawmakers and coalition partners to quit the assembly en-masse. "For three months I was asking them to collectively resign... I am saying the same, we should resign in unison," said Sheikh Rashid Ahmad.
The constitutional crisis has threatened economic and social stability in the nuclear-armed nation of 220 million people, with its currency hitting all-time lows earlier on Thursday and foreign exchange reserves tumbling.
Mr Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party effectively lost the majority in the assembly earlier this month when a key coalition partner said its seven lawmakers would vote with the opposition. More than a dozen lawmakers from the ruling party also indicated that they would cross the floor. The opposition says it has more than 172 votes in the 342-seat assembly, which needs a quarter of members present for a quorum.
Pakistan has been wracked by political crises for much of its 75-year existence, and no Prime Minister has ever seen out a full term. Mr Khan had claimed that it was a "conspiracy" against his government that was engineered by the US because he would not take the side of the US and Europe on global issues against Russia and China.
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