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P.M. Khan to Address Nation Tonight

by Staff Report

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Newly restored premier expected to share with public his plans ahead of upcoming vote of no-confidence in the National Assembly

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday announced that he will address the nation today (Friday), vowing that he will “continue to fight for Pakistan.”

“I have called a cabinet meeting tomorrow as well as our parliamentary party meeting,” he said in a posting on Twitter. “Tomorrow evening I will address the nation. My message to our nation is I have always and will continue to fight for Pakistan till the last ball,” he added.

The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Thursday restored the National Assembly after declaring that Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri’s ruling to dismiss the opposition’s no-trust resolution against the prime minister was unconstitutional. In a unanimous verdict of the five-member bench led by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, the court set aside all steps taken by the prime minister and President Arif Alvi in the aftermath of the deputy speaker’s ruling, restoring the federal cabinet and the National Assembly.

According to the court’s ruling, the National Assembly must convene on Saturday (tomorrow) and proceed to voting on the no-confidence resolution. If Prime Minister Imran Khan is ousted, it added, the Lower House must also proceed to voting on a new prime minister the same day.

Per sources within the PTI, the party is currently weighing several options ahead of the no-confidence vote, including resigning from the National Assembly en masse, or even declassifying the “threat letter” that the prime minister claims “proves” the opposition’s no-trust motion is part of a “foreign conspiracy” against his government.

The opposition filed a no-confidence motion against the prime minister on March 8, with the National Assembly convening to debate it on March 28. After the constitutionally mandated 7 days for debate—during which the session was convened only once—it proceeded to a vote on April 3. Instead of allowing the vote, the deputy speaker dismissed the resolution after newly appointed Law Minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain invoked Article 5 (loyalty to the state) to allege that it was part of a foreign conspiracy against the PTI-led government. Within minutes, the prime minister—in a pre-recorded televised address—said he had advised the president to dissolve the National Assembly and urged the public to prepare for early elections.

Key to the government’s actions is a “threat letter”—more accurately a diplomatic cable sent to the Foreign Office by Pakistan’s then-Ambassador to the U.S. Asad Majeed, based on his conversations with a U.S. official. According to the government, the cable contains “threats” to Khan, with the U.S. official claiming bilateral ties could only improve if Khan is ousted and a new government comes into power. While the government claims this “proves” an international conspiracy, security officials have told media on condition of anonymity that they have found no evidence of such claims. The opposition, meanwhile, has alleged that parts of the cable have been fabricated, adding that the PTI’s failure to apprise the nation of its contents for three weeks—it was allegedly received on March 7, but not made public by Khan until March 27—suggests it is merely a ploy by the PTI to save its government.

The opposition needs 172 votes to oust Khan as prime minister; it currently has 176 members. In addition, over 20 dissident PTI MNAs have also refused to support Khan.

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