Islamabad, Apr 1 (PTI) Ahead of the crucial parliamentary no-confidence vote, embattled Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday stepped up his attack on the US, saying a “powerful country” had expressed displeasure over his recent visit to Moscow to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Opposition parties in the National Assembly have submitted the no-trust motion seeking Khan’s ouster for allegedly mismanaging the cash-strapped country’s economy.
The 69-year-old cricketer-turned-politician, despite losing majority in the lower house, said on Thursday night in an address to the nation that he would not resign and will face the no-confidence vote on Sunday. He also vowed that he would stand up to foreign intervention in Pakistan’s internal affairs.
In what appeared to be a slip of tongue, Khan named the US as the origin of a “memo” that he said confirmed a “foreign conspiracy” prompted by his maiden visit to Russia on the day President Putin invaded Ukraine.
“We got a message from America — oh, not America, I mean a foreign country I can’t name,” Khan said in the live televised address.
“They say they are angry with Pakistan. … They say they will forgive Pakistan if Imran Khan loses a no-trust motion. But if the vote fails, Pakistan will have to face serious consequences,” Khan said, citing the text of the alleged memo.
The US has dismissed Khan’s allegations.
“We are closely following developments in Pakistan. We respect, we support Pakistan’s constitutional process and the rule of law,” State Department Spokesperson Ned Price told reporters at his daily news conference on Thursday in Washington.
“But when it comes to those allegations, there is no truth to them,” Price said when asked to comment on Khan’s remarks.
But in Islamabad, Pakistan’s Foreign Office summoned US Charge d’ Affaires Angela P Aggeler over a “threatening letter” that warned of dire consequences if the Opposition’s no-confidence motion against Khan failed.
The senior US diplomat was summoned after a decision by Pakistan’s National Security Council (NSC) on Thursday.
The Foreign Office also handed over a letter of protest to the US diplomat over the language used by a foreign official during a formal communication.
The Foreign Office also told the US diplomat that “interference in Pakistan’s internal affairs is unacceptable.” On Friday, Prime Minister Khan raked up the alleged US intervention during his address to the Islamabad Security Dialogue.
Referring to the US, Khan said a “powerful country” had expressed displeasure over his recent visit to Russia, the official APP news agency reported.
“On the other hand, it is supporting its ally India which imports oil from Russia,” he rued.
Dismissing Prime Minister Khan’s allegations that Opposition was involved in a “foreign-funded conspiracy” to topple his government, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Friday urged the premier to leave his office ‘respectfully’ and not look for any “face-saving”.
“The decision [to table no-confidence motion] was taken long before Imran Khan’s visit to Russia. We took many decisions during our CEC meeting in January,” he said while addressing a news conference here.
Meanwhile, leading Pakistani newspapers noted that Prime Minister Khan’s address to the nation seemed like an election campaign speech.
“By condemning in advance those who will be voting against him on Sunday as willing accomplices in an international conspiracy, Prime Minister Imran Khan has cemented his narrative for his upcoming election campaign,” the Dawn newspaper wrote in its editorial.
“He knows that he is not going to survive, but, through a lengthy prime time address heavy on sermon and nationalist zeal, he has ensured that he will remain relevant to a broad cross-section of the electorate easily swayed by emotion and deeply invested in conspiracy theories,” the newspaper commented.
“A ‘slip of the tongue’, a lot of talk on foreign policy, and the promise that he will go down fighting ‘till the last ball’ and will not stop his efforts towards a sovereign Pakistan – in truth the Prime Minister’s speech last night seemed more like the launch of an election campaign,” the News International said in its editorial.
The no-confidence resolution against Prime Minister Khan was tabled by the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif on March 28.
Khan needs 172 votes in the lower house of 342 to foil the Opposition’s bid to topple him. However, Opposition claims it has the support of 177 lawmakers and the prime minister should immediately resign.
No Pakistani prime minister has ever completed a full five-year term in office. Also, no prime minister in Pakistan’s history has ever been ousted through a no-confidence motion, and Khan is the third premier to face the challenge. PTI SH CPS SCY AKJ AKJ
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.