Pakistan’s prime minister Imran Khan skirts opposition effort to oust him, calls for elections

3 yıl önce

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – Pakistan’s embattled prime minister, Imran Khan, outfoxed his political opponents Sunday as they gathered in Parliament to hold a vote of no confidence in his government.

Instead, Khan orchestrated an abrupt suspension of the vote by the legislature’s deputy speaker — and immediately announced on live TV that new elections would be held.

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As an uproar spread through the chamber, opposition leaders accused Khan of treason and declared they would immediately go to the Supreme Court to demand that the vote be held as planned.

Opposition leaders, as of Saturday, had gathered enough supporting votes among legislators to oust Khan from power as he struggled to manage spiraling inflation and other domestic crises. But Khan, 69, a charismatic former cricket star who won office in 2018 after campaigning to reform a corrupt political system and bring justice to all Pakistanis, blamed the effort to oust him on a foreign conspiracy that he claimed was backed by the United States.

He had vowed to resist the no-confidence measure and called on supporters Saturday to hold peaceful protests across the country.

“I congratulate the nation. The speaker has rejected the effort at regime change that was planned by outsiders,” Khan said in a brief televised statement. “The nation will not allow this conspiracy to succeed. The assembly will be dissolved and we will go back to the people. We will prepare for new elections and you will decide the future of Pakistan.”