The key vote was held past midnight after the country's opposition parties brought a no-confidence motion against Imran Khan, which was upheld by the Pakistan Supreme Court.

Khan becomes the first Prime Minister in the history of Pakistan to be voted out of power after the no-confidence motion against him succeeds in parliament by a vote of 174-0.

The voting session was chaired by Ayaz Sadiq, a member of the panel of chairs, after speaker Asad Qasier resigned from his post.

After the voting, Ayaz Sadiq announced: "174 members have recorded their votes in favour of the resolution, consequently the resolution for the vote on no-confidence against the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, has been passed by a majority."

To oust Imran Khan and to bring an end to his tumultuous term in prime minister's office, the opposition needed a minimum of 172 votes out of the 342 member assembly.

The cricketer-turned-Pak PM was not present in the lower house at the time of voting, acting against his own statement that he will "play till the last ball". His party legislators staged a walkout.

After Imran Khan's government lost its majority in the National Assembly, Pakistan's Attorney General resigned.

Imran Khan came to power in 2018 as a popular leader who promised to create a "New Pakistan".

Not a single Prime Minister in Pakistan has completed a full five-year term since the country's independence in 1947.

Today's session was called after Pakistan's Supreme Court had said that the deputy speaker's decision to dissolve the national assembly was illegal as he violated the constitution by refusing to allow a no-confidence vote against Khan.

The Tehreek-e-Insaf party (PTI) effectively lost its majority in the 342-member assembly after one of his allies said that it would vote against him in a no-confidence vote.

Even as the country's parliament started debating on the no-trust vote, Imran Khan had called a meeting of his Cabinet at 8 pm apparently to explore potential means to block the voting.

Though publicly the military appears to be keeping out of the current fray, some media reports said that Pakistan Army had increased its presence in the capital to ensure that the no-trust vote takes place.

Some local media reports said that Khan could leave the country to escape from being tried in court as there is the possibility that the next government would press charges against him on accounts of corruption, mismanagement and poor governance.

Meanwhile, Pakistan opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif, in a brief speech in parliament after the vote, has said his party “will not seek revenge”, adding that “we will not put people in jails but the law will take its course.”

Thanking other opposition leaders for what he called their struggle and support, Sharif said that “this unity will rebuild Pakistan”.