IRIA News

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan is currently battling the opposition’s no-confidence movement against his elected government. The opposition parties in the national legislative assembly of Pakistan jointly submitted a no-confidence motion against the current administration in order to topple Khan’s government through the parliamentary voting process.

Former cricket star turned politician Imran Khan’s political party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), came into power after the general elections of 2018. This was the first time that his party attained a slight lead in parliament to form a government through a small coalition with other parties. Khan’s government did not have the two-third majority in the lower house of parliament which led to difficulties in enacting laws and reforms.

Ahead of the no-trust vote, the Pakistani prime minister rejected opposition calls for him to resign. In his live televised address to the nation on March 31, Prime Minister Khan stated that he would not resign and would stand up against the foreign intervention that is active to topple his government. “The vote will take place on Sunday [April 3, 2022]. Whatever the outcome may be, I will emerge stronger. I will not let this conspiracy succeed at any cost,” Khan said in his live address.

In what seemed to be a slip of tongue, Khan named the U.S. to be behind the whole ‘foreign conspiracy’ against his government. Pakistan’s top security body, National Security Committee (NSC), recently agreed that the communication by a foreign official “amounted to blatant interference in the internal affairs of Pakistan by the country in question, which was unacceptable under any circumstances.”

Khan mentioned a ‘memo’ that he received amid his visit to Russia on the same day when President Vladimir Putin started his invasion of Ukraine. “We got a message from America, oh, not America, I mean a foreign country that I can’t name. 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.

Khan is known for his tough stance against U.S. policies, especially in the Middle Eastern and South Asia region. He has been vocal against the U.S. war on Afghanistan since the invasions started in 2001 and frequently stated that U.S. forces cannot win this war by force. Upon being asked during an interview in June 2021, that whether Pakistan would provide air bases to the U.S. to carry out operations in Afghanistan after the military pull-out, he stated ‘absolutely not’. This came as a surprise to many analysts considering the fact that all former Pakistani governments worked closely with the U.S. military in carrying out aerial and drone attacks in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The rift between the White House and the Pakistani government became even more severe in December 2021 when Pakistan declined President Biden’s invitation to join the Summit for Democracy. Pakistan’s decision to turn down the invitation from the United States came soon after China showed its reservations against the summit because the U.S. had invited Taiwanese leadership along with the leaders of several countries.

Pakistan’s prime minister also hinted that some Western powers are against him for his efforts for strengthening Pakistan’s bilateral relations with China and Russia and combatting Islamophobia on the international stage. Khan introduced a resolution at the United Nations General Assembly designating March 15 as the “International Day to Combat Islamophobia”.

The opposition leaders in Pakistan have rejected Khan’s claims of a foreign intervention behind their no-confidence movement. They stated that Khan’s allegations are stemmed from his frustration over a certain defeat. The opposition leaders claim to have a clear lead in numbers as the national assembly members from the government’s coalition parties as well as several members of Imran Khan’s own political party openly joined the opposition to vote against Prime Minister Imran Khan. The Pakistani government has alleged the opposition parties of bribing members of the national assembly and buying their way against the government.

Soon after Imran Khan made his statement regarding the foreign intervention Washington came forward to dismiss the charges of intervening in Pakistan’s internal matters.

“When it comes to these allegations, there is no truth to them,” State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters during a regular briefing. “We are closely following developments in Pakistan. We respect and support Pakistan’s constitutional process and the rule of law.” Price added.