Imran Khan seems to be courting war on all fronts with Pakistan’s diplomatic community also said to be upset with the interim PM for politicising a diplomatic cable that purportedly shows US interference in the country’s affairs.
Imran Khan, who faces a trust vote on Saturday after the Supreme Court struck down his party’s attempt to quash it, has cited the letter as proof of a “foreign conspiracy” to oust him from power.
He has accused US Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu of being involved in the plot to overthrow his government, suggesting that Lu had warned Pakistan’s ambassador in Washington that there would be implications if Khan survived the no-confidence vote. The US has dismissed this claim.
Sources told News18 that the Pakistan Foreign Services officials want the Foreign Secretary to intervene and stop the tabling of documents sent by the Pakistani Ambassador to the US.
The Foreign Secretary in turn is believed to have shared concerns with the Pakistani PMO and senior leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi, but sources said their responses have not been convincing.
Sources in the diplomatic circles added that it will be difficult to manage foreign relations in the future if the image being projected is that the government could use diplomatic communications for political gains.
Some diplomats reportedly conveyed the sentiment during Iftar gathering with Imran Khan on Friday.
The interim PM, meanwhile, has called his supporters to the streets to defy opponents determined to unseat him.
Thursday’s court decision set the stage for a no-confidence vote, with opposition lawmakers saying they have the 172 votes in the 342-seat assembly needed to unseat Khan, after several of his ruling party members and a small, but key, coalition partner defected.
In an impassioned televised addressed on the eve of the trust vote, Khan urged Pakistanis — particular the country’s young who have been the backbone of his support since he came to power in 2018 — to rally countrywide on Sunday night.
He vowed not to accept the results of the no-confidence vote on Saturday — an indication he was aware he will likely lose the vote. “You have to come out to protect your own future. It is you who have to protect your democracy, your sovereignty, and your independence … this is your duty,” he said.
Pakistan’s latest political crisis erupted last Sunday, when Khan sidestepped the opposition’s initial no-confidence petition — a motion that had been weeks in the making — and instead accused his opponents of colluding with the United States to remove him.
Qasim Suri, Khan’s ally and deputy parliament speaker, dismissed the no-confidence vote on the grounds of collusion while his Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry described the opposition as being “disloyal to the state,” and accused them of colluding with a foreign power.
Khan dissolved Parliament and called early elections but the opposition went to the Supreme Court with its case.
After four days of deliberations, hearing arguments from both the opposition and Khan’s lawyers, the five-member bench unanimously ordered Parliament reinstated and the no-confidence vote to be held on Saturday.
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