Pakistan's prime minister Imran Khan ousted in no-confidence vote

Khan earlier had tried to sidestep the vote by dissolving Parliament 

Pakistan’s political opposition toppled Prime Minister Imran Khan in a no-confidence vote in Parliament early Sunday after several political allies and a key party in his ruling coalition deserted him.

The opposition, which spans the political spectrum from leftists to religious radicals, will form a new government. The head of one of the largest parties, a brother of disgraced former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, is likely to take over as prime minister if confirmed in a vote Monday, Qazet.az reports.

Anticipating his loss, Khan, who claimed the opposition colluded with the United States to unseat him, has called on his supporters to stage rallies nationwide on Sunday. Khan’s options are limited, though. Should he see a big turnout in his support, he may try to keep the momentum of street protests as a way to pressure Parliament to hold early elections.

Khan earlier had tried to sidestep the vote by dissolving Parliament and calling early elections but a Supreme Court ruling ordered the vote to go ahead.

The vote comes amid cooling relations between Khan and Pakistan's powerful military, which many of his political opponents allege helped him come to power in general elections in 2018. The military has directly ruled Pakistan for more than half of its 75 years and wields considerable power over civilian governments.

In seeking Khan's ouster, the opposition had accused him of economic mismanagement as inflation soars and the Pakistani rupee plummets in value. The vote caps months of political turmoil and a constitutional crisis that required the Supreme Court to step in.

In an impassioned speech Friday, Khan doubled down on his accusations that his opponents colluded with the United States to unseat him over his foreign policy choices, which often seemed to favor China and Russia and defied the US.

Khan said Washington opposed his 24 February meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin. The meeting took place hours after Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine, launching a devastating war in the heart of Europe.

Ahead of the vote, a member of Khan's Cabinet referred to an earlier claim by Khan that Pakistani diplomats in Washington were told by a senior US official that relations would improve if Khan was ousted.

The US State Department has denied any involvement in Pakistan’s internal politics.