Newsman: Pakistan’s President Arif Alvi dissolved the parliament on Sunday ahead of a vote on a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan, who also called for early elections.
Pakistan’s parliamentary deputy speaker blocked the no-confidence vote in parliament against Prime Minister Imran Khan.
The opposition says it will challenge the move in the country’s Supreme Court. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, one of the leaders of the opposition, called Khan’s move “unconstitutional,” adding the matter will be taken up by the Supreme Court.
The court said it would take the challenge up on Monday, but it remains far from clear how the court may rule. Imran Khan’s supporters claimed they were saving Pakistan’s democracy.
The decision of blocking no confidence motion and dissolving national parliament has triggered a constitutional crisis in Pakistan as the opposition plans to appeal against the moves at the Supreme Court.
The alarm in Pakistan rises at a moment of deep economic anxiety in a nation of 220 million people from frustrations over economic mismanagement, rising prices. As negotiations continue between Khan’s government and the International Monetary Fund over a $6 billion bailout package, pandemic-linked inflation and concerns over the Russian invasion of Ukraine have combined to push up the price of food and fuel.
The National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser ruled that the no-confidence motion violated Article 5 of the Constitution, which calls for loyalty to the state and constitution.
In a day of the political crisis in Pakistan’s legislature, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry accused the opposition of treason, while Khan’s allies rushed to the floor of the chamber shouting, “Friends of America are traitors to their country!”
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday named a senior American diplomat as the person who was allegedly involved in the “foreign conspiracy” to overthrow his government through a no-confidence vote, Hindustan times reported.
Speaking at a meeting in Islamabad, Imran Khan claimed that Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu was involved in the “foreign conspiracy” to topple his government according to Hindustan times.
Imran Khan claimed that Donald Lu warned the Pakistan Ambassador to the US, Asad Majeed, that there would be implications if the Pakistan PM survived the no-confidence vote.
Khan said that the no-trust motion against him was a “conspiracy” and thanked Allah that it failed.
Pakistan’s PM last week had claimed “foreign conspiracy” in the country, saying that a foreign nation is trying to oust him over the “independent” foreign policy choices made by him.
Responding to Imran Khan’s remarks, White House Director of Communications Kate Bedingfield rubbished the allegations regarding Washington’s role in an alleged conspiracy.
“There is absolutely no truth to that allegation,” Bedingfield told reporters.
In October last year, Wendy Sherman, the deputy secretary of state and the highest placed US official to visit Pakistan since Biden took over, told reporters her trip to Pakistan was aimed at accomplishing a ‘specific and narrow purpose’, referring to Afghanistan.
Imran Khan and his allies allege that Washington is trying to overthrow his government, and that his political opponents are doing Washington’s bidding by trying to oust him.
Khan claims a cable from the Pakistani embassy in Washington, which relays a conversation with a senior State Department official critical of the prime minister’s recent actions, as proof of U.S. meddling. American officials have denied any suggestion that they are seeking to unseat his government.
Khan openly celebrated the Taliban’s seizure of Afghanistan last year, saying the regime change meant that Afghans had “broken the shackles of slavery.” He also met President Vladimir Putin as Russia invaded Ukraine.
Khan and his allies responded with threats of social disgrace, warning those who planned to vote against him that “no-one will marry your children.” They appealed to the Supreme Court to decide on whether lawmakers could vote against their own party leader – the court has not made a decision.
The parliamentary secretary for law and justice, Maleeka Bokhari, said they had stopped “a no-confidence motion that was moved unconstitutionally on the instigation of a foreign power in collusion with members of parliament of opposition and I think no democratic state, no independent sovereign state, can allow the removal of the prime minister through such unconstitutional means.”
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Pakistan’s main opposition parties have been rallying for Khan’s dismissal since he rose to power in 2018 after a dramatic election mired in accusations of vote rigging and foul play.
They had urged Khan to resign ahead of the vote. Khan retaliated by calling them “traitors” and repeatedly emphasized his desire to fight against the vote.
Khan had previously appealed to defecting lawmakers to return to his party, promising they would be forgiven “like a father forgives his children.” He warned that those who voted against him would face social disgrace, saying no one would marry their children.
Last week, tens of thousands of people gathered at the city’s iconic Parade Ground, chanting slogans in favor of Khan, a former international cricket star turned politician.
No Pakistani leader has completed a full five-year term as prime minister since the country’s formation in 1947. There are now concerns Khan’s move to call an early election could risk further political instability in the South Asian nation.
