Imran Khan's Last Ditch Effort To Remain Pakistan PM But Numbers Are Stacked Against Him

Prime Minister Imran Khan’s fate is sealed as the numbers are stacked against him. But Khan will not throw in the towel till the last ball is bowled. The latest move by Khan and his coterie is to approach Pakistan’s Supreme Court to stop voting on the no-confidence motion after he shared a letter highlighting a "foreign conspiracy" to topple his government, ARY NEWS reported. They have appealed to the apex court to order investigations into the conspiracy and get to the truth.

The government claimed that the current political instability was leading to enormous problems for Pakistan’s poor as the administration could not concentrate on governance. It is now up to the Supreme Court to give its verdict. In the past, the judges had often sided with the government. But of late the judiciary has been impartial, perhaps this has to do with the fact that the powerful Pakistan army has decided not to back Khan. An earlier appeal by the PTI not to allow lawmakers who have switched sides to vote during the no-confidence motion was turned down.

In another move to save the sinking ship, the Prime Minister has summoned a meeting of the National Security Committee this afternoon to discuss the alleged  "foreign conspiracy" to oust him. The charge was first made by the Prime Minister on Sunday at a massive rally of his supporters in Islamabad. He claimed that the opposition had received funds and support from a foreign power.

The government has confirmed that Khan’s allegation was based on a diplomatic cable received from the Pakistani embassy of a powerful western power. According to Khan, his independent foreign policy, his refusal to toe the West’s line on Ukraine, his visit to Moscow on the day President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to march into Ukraine was reason enough to annoy this important country. Leaks from the government have confirmed that Khan was referring to a cable sent by Pakistan’s ambassador to Washington Asad Majeed after a conversation with Donald Lu, US assistant secretary of state for south and central Asia. Majeed has since left Washington and is now based in Brussels.  The US State Department has denied that Lu made any such threats. Dawn newspaper's  Washington correspondent had asked the State Department for a reaction to Imran Khan’s charges. “There is no truth to these allegations" the spokesman replied.

It was apparent that the Pakistan  Tehreek-e-Insaf will lose the vote of confidence in the National Assembly, after seven  MQM-P members,  switched sides and are backing the opposition. The combined opposition now has the support of 177 lawmakers in the Assembly five more than the 172 required.  Khan and his ruling party did everything possible to frighten those leaving the PTI fold. First, it was through threats and then by cajoling them with goodies.  The Speaker of the NA stretched the time limit for taking up the motion as far as it could but finally, the resolution has been tabled and the vote is scheduled for April 3.  Debate on the motion is underway in the National Assembly. 

After postponing his address to the nation yesterday, Imran Khan will do so this evening according to reports from Pakistan. It will be interesting to hear what the embattled Prime Minister has to say.

A no-confidence motion is part of parliamentary democracy practised in all countries that follow the Westminster model.  When the ruling party fails to deliver, opposition lawmakers have the choice to vote the government out. On the face of it, this is a win for democracy. Imran Khan is not being thrown out through unconstitutional means but by what is clearly spelled out in Pakistan’s constitution. But the horse-trading the enticement given to smaller parties to remain with the PTI or opt for the opposition tells its own murky story of South Asian democracy.

As a senior Pakistani bureaucrat, who did not wish to be quoted put it ``Opportunistic politics defines democracy for now.’’ He went on to add ``Democracy has not delivered progress, prosperity or justice for the masses of South Asia as a whole. Instead, democracy has surfaced the baser aspects and instincts and even sanctified these.’’

An editorial in the respected Dawn newspaper said, "What is unfortunate in all that has unfolded this week is that it is abundantly clear now that there is no real principle at play behind what is transpiring in Islamabad. All political forces have shown they are more than happy to play dirty if it means achieving the single objective of ensuring either the success or failure of the vote of no-confidence. The mandate given to each party by the people is being bartered or sold for a few votes here or there. This no longer seems like a grand democratic victory for the opposition, which had started its campaign with slogans calling for respecting the vote and an elected, not selected prime minister.”

Imran Khan is said to be a ``selected’’ because the army had helped to bring him to power.