US rejects ‘foreign conspiracy’ claims

The US again on Friday rejected Pakistan’s embattled Prime Minister Imran Khan’s allegations of a “foreign conspiracy” plotted in Washington to overthrow his government with the help of the opposition parties, saying there is “absolutely no truth” to the claims.

Khan has been claiming that the opposition’s no-confidence motion against him was the result of a “foreign conspiracy” because of his independent foreign policy and funds were being channelled from abroad to oust him from power. In an address to the nation on Friday, the 69-year-old prime minister reiterated his allegations that a senior US diplomat threatened regime change in Pakistan.

Khan has alleged that Donald Lu, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs in the state department was involved.

Responding to a question on Khan’s renewed allegations of the US encouraging the no-confidence vote against his government, deputy state department spokesperson Jalina Porter in a press conference on Friday said, “Let me just say very bluntly there is absolutely no truth to these allegations.”

“Of course, we continue to follow these developments, and we respect and support Pakistan’s constitutional process and rule of law. But again, these allegations are absolutely not true,” she said.

Friday’s rebuttal was the third time the US state department has publicly commented on Khan’s allegations. Previously, Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper reported that the state department had dismissed the allegation when it initially broke in late March.

On March 31, state department spokesman Ned Price said, “We are closely following developments in Pakistan, and we respect, we support Pakistan’s constitutional process and the rule of law. But when it comes to those allegations, there is no truth to them.”

Crisis rages in Islamabad

Pakistan’s army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Saturday met Prime Minister Imran Khan amid an impasse over a parliamentary vote to oust the premier, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The meeting comes hours after parliament was abruptly adjourned before the vote that Khan was widely expected to lose.

Despite the fact, that Pakistan’s top court on Thursday ordered that the vote be held by Saturday and the National Assembly first convened at 10:30 am local time, 12 hours later, the vote had yet to happen at the time of print.

Members of Khan’s party had suggested on Friday they would try to delay the vote for as long as possible. They have said there is a foreign conspiracy to oust him.

The cricket star turned politician has vowed to “struggle” against any move to replace him.

Before Saturday’s session was adjourned, opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif, expected to become prime minister if Khan is ousted, urged lower house Speaker Asad Qaiser to ensure the vote was carried out as a matter of priority.

After the Pakistan National Assembly Speaker said that the House should also hold a discussion on the issue of “international conspiracy”, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari asserted that the Supreme Court has passed an order to vote on the no-trust motion against the Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday and anything against this order cannot be discussed.

The speaker said he would implement the court order “in true letter and spirit”.

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.

During the session, foreign minister and PTI leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi made it clear that it is the duty of the government to defend the no-confidence motion. “It is the Constitutional right of the Opposition to move a no-confidence motion against the government, and it’s the government’s duty to defend it,” he added.

No ‘imported govt’

The opposition and some analysts say Khan has fallen out with the military, a charge he and the military deny. The army has ruled the state for half its 75-year post-colonial history, and no prime minister has completed a full five-year term.

Khan, who enjoyed widespread popular support when he took office, said late on Friday he was disappointed with the top court ruling but accepted it. But he said he would not recognise any opposition government that replaced him.

“I will not accept an imported government,” he told the nation in an address, calling for peaceful protests on Sunday.