Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, April 9: Amidst repeated adjournments of the Pakistan National Assembly consequent to opposition disturbances, prime minister Imran Khan has convened a meeting of his cabinet later on Saturday night after the government’s attempt to file a review petition in the Supreme Court was declared “time out” to be re-attempted on Monday.
Though the speaker of the National Assembly while adjourning the House earlier set 10.30 P.M. time for re-convening the session to take up the no-confidence motion against the Khan government, the observers believe that the ruling party would make all efforts to keep voting postponed at least till Monday when it hoped to file the review petition in the apex court of the country.
The Khan government wanted to file a review petition for reviewing the Supreme Court’s Thursday’s judgement in which it declared rejection of the no-confidence motion by the deputy speaker Qasim Suri with voting and the subsequent dissolution of the National Assembly as “unconstitutional” and ordered restoration of the National Assembly to take up the voting on the motion.
The cabinet meeting has taken many by surprise as the no-confidence vote is expected to be completed by late evening with Imran Khan having very little chance of surviving it. Separately, Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government today failed to file in time a review petition in the Supreme Court challenging its decision to set aside the deputy speaker’s decision on no-trust vote. It will be now filed Monday.
Khan’s ruling PTI effectively lost the majority in the assembly earlier this month when a key coalition partner said its seven lawmakers would vote with the opposition. More than a dozen lawmakers from the ruling party indicated they would cross over. The opposition says it has more than 172 votes in the 342-seat assembly, which needs a quarter of members present for a quorum. It has alleged that the government is trying to delay the no-trust vote.
Calling on the people of Pakistan to protect the country’s sovereignty, Prime Minister Khan last night asked the people to hit the streets on Sunday and peacefully protest against an “imported government.” Khan repeated its allegations against the US of interfering into the internal affairs of Pakistan and helping the opposition to oust his government because he had refused to be cowed down by Washington’s threats and continued with his trip to Russia just before it invaded Ukraine.
Khan claimed that foreign powers were trying to topple his government and Pakistan’s lawmakers are being traded like sheep to accomplish this. “We got to know that US diplomats were meeting our people. Then we got to know about the entire plan,” he said, adding that he is not at the liberty to publicly release all the details owing to national security concerns. He repeated the allegations at every point even as the US vehemently denied the accusation.
Khan said foreign powers want a pliable PM and that’s why they are trying to push him out. He has called the political situation an attack on the sovereignty of Pakistan. “We are 22 crore people. It is insulting that someone from outside is ordering this to 22 crore people,” he said.
The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to accept the allegation of foreign power to be behind the no-confidence motion and overturned the Khan government’s move to block a parliamentary vote seeking to oust him. If Khan loses, the opposition could nominate its own Prime Minister and hold power until August 2023, by which date fresh elections have to be held.
Khan, 69, surged to power in 2018 with the military’s support but recently lost his parliamentary majority when allies quit his coalition government. Opposition parties say he has failed to revive an economy battered by COVID-19 or fulfil promises to make Pakistan a corruption-free, prosperous nation respected on the world stage.
But Khan said he would not recognise any opposition government that replaced him. “I will not accept an imported government,” he told the nation in a late-night address, suggesting the move to oust him was part of a foreign conspiracy and calling for peaceful protests on Sunday. “I’m ready for a struggle.”
Khan opposed the U.S.-led intervention in Afghanistan and has developed relations with Russia since becoming prime minister. He has accused the United States of supporting a plot to oust him, without offering evidence of his claim, which Washington has dismissed. As the turmoil continued, Pakistan’s rupee hit all-time lows on Thursday and foreign exchange reserves tumbled. The central bank raised its benchmark interest rate by 2.5 percentage points, the biggest hike since 1996.