Take to streets against foreign conspiracy, Pakistan PM Imran urges nation
Supporters of PTI carry signs as they chant slogans accusing the US of plotting to overthrow Imran Khan, during a protest in Islamabad on Saturday. Reuters
Tariq Butt, Correspondent / Agencies
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan called on his supporters to take to the streets on Sunday ahead of a parliamentary no-confidence vote that could see him thrown out of office.
No Pakistani premier has ever completed a full term, and Imran is facing the biggest challenge to his rule since being elected in 2018, with opponents accusing him of economic mismanagement and foreign-policy bungling.
Parliament is due to debate the motion on Sunday — with a vote possibly the same day — but Imran’s Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) effectively lost its majority in the 342-member assembly last week when a coalition partner said its seven lawmakers would vote with the opposition.
More than a dozen PTI lawmakers have also indicated they will cross the floor, although party leaders are trying to get the courts to prevent them from voting.
On Saturday Imran called on supporters to take to the streets to peacefully protest against what he said was a "conspiracy" hatched outside Pakistan to unseat him.
"I want you all to protest for an independent and free Pakistan," he said during a public question and answer phone-in broadcast by state media.
Earlier this week he accused the United States of meddling in Pakistan's affairs, with local media reporting he had received a briefing letter from Islamabad's ambassador to Washington recording a senior US official telling him they felt relations would be better if Imran left office.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters there was "no truth" to the allegations.
Imran has accused the opposition of conspiring with Washington to remove him because he won't take the West's side on global issues against Russia and China. He called his opponents "robbers, cowards, deceivers."
The opposition is headed by the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) - two usually feuding dynastic groups that dominated national politics for decades until Imran forged a coalition against them.
If Imran goes, the PML-N's Shahbaz Sharif is tipped to become the next prime minister — but on Saturday the government moved to have him sent back to jail to await trial on money-laundering charges that have been pending since 2020.
The government asked a Lahore court to revoke his bail, with a decision expected on Monday.
Shahbaz is the younger brother of three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who was ousted and jailed on corruption charges in 2017 and is currently in Britain after being released from prison two years later for medical treatment.
Imran was elected after promising to sweep away decades of entrenched corruption and cronyism, but has struggled to maintain support with inflation skyrocketing, a feeble rupee and crippling debt.
Some analysts say Imran has also lost the crucial support of the military - claims both sides deny - and Pakistan's army is key to political power.
There have been four military coups - and at least as many unsuccessful ones - since independence in 1947, and the country has spent more than three decades under army rule.
Debate on the no-confidence motion was due to start on Thursday, but the deputy speaker - from Imran's party - suspended proceedings when legislators declined to first address other items on the agenda.
Imran, a former international cricket star who in 1992 captained Pakistan to their only World Cup win, hinted he still had a card to play.
"I have a plan for tomorrow, you should not be worried about it. I will show them and will defeat them in the assembly."
Three options
During an interview to a private TV channel, Imran has said that the ‘establishment’ gave him three options of facing the no-confidence motion in the National Assembly or holding fresh elections or stepping down from the post, in order to end the ongoing political turmoil.
He stressed that calling early elections was a better option in the prevailing circumstances, adding that he could not even think of resigning. He promised that he would make a comeback with a heavy majority if removed from the government.
"I said early elections are the best option; I could never think of resigning; and for no-trust motion, I believe that I will fight till the last minute,” he said. "On the voting day, I want the nation to see the faces of those who would sell their loyalties,” Imran remarked.
The prime minister also said that he knew that a "foreign conspiracy” was being hatched in London to topple his government since August last year. "This game started in August; I received reports about people frequently visiting London from Pakistan and also received reports from agencies.”
He charged PML-N supremo and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who has been living in London since 2019 for medical treatment, with plotting against his government.
"Sharif was frequently holding meetings with individuals who are against the military and held last meeting with Hussain Haqqani on March 3” - four days before the government received the threatening letter, Imran claimed.
To a question, Imran rubbished rumours that he was mulling over to de-notify Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, saying that it was a "propaganda spread by the PML-N.” "I can never think of doing anything which is detrimental to our armed forces.”
The premier said that he would never speak against the military despite the issues. "I will never discuss them publicly because Pakistan needs a strong army and we should not do anything which causes harm to [the military],” he remarked.
