Realising that he had lost his majority in the National Assembly, Imran Khan tried to forestall the no-confidence vote with a series of deceptive moves. His first attempt was to try to launch a civilian coup by dissolving the National Assembly. The Supreme Court foiled this attempt by restoring the Assembly and ordering a fresh no-confidence vote. As the Deputy Speaker continued to delay the vote, the CJP ordered the opening of the Supreme Court before midnight to ensure that its directives were implemented. This led Mr Khan to question the motives behind the apex court’s opening at an unusual time in his Peshawar speech, thus creating uncalled=for doubts and suspicions about the Court’s action
Simultaneously, making use of a diplomatic cable sent by Pakistan’s former ambassador to USA, Imran Khan maintained that this amounted to a US conspiracy to overthrow his government. Then Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry called it a “threatening” cable, purportedly containing evidence of a foreign plot against the government. Mr Khan claimed that the USA wanted to get him removed because of his independent foreign policy and because he had responded with “absolutely not” to US demands for military bases in Pakistan. The ISPR chief however denied the USA had sought bases. He also clarified that the National Security Committee did not find any evidence of conspiracy. Mr Khan has thus indulged in a highly damaging politicisation of diplomacy and the working of the Foreign Office. The former PM hopes to win the next elections on an anti-US platform to cover up the shortcomings of his four year long tenure.
The en masse resignations of the PTI MNAs from the National Assembly was another attempt to weaken the system from inside. As the PTI’s objections to Shahbaz Sharif’s nomination papers were set aside, the PTI announced resignations by its MNAs. As Sheikh Rashid put it, “It has been decided that we can’t be involved with these thieves and dacoits in the Assembly.” The stand is as undemocratic as it untenable. Will the PTI refuse to sit in the House once again if it did not win a majority of seats in the next elections?
