Is it a victim card or blame-game? Pak PM Imran Khan claims the US wants to destroy his govt

Islamabad, Apr 1: A day after a key alley exited from the coalition that led to losing majority, Pakistan PM Imran Khan on Thursday made a televised address to the nation in which he appeared to let slip his tongue saying that the US was behind the "foreign-funded conspiracy".

 

Making it very clear that he will not resign ahead of Sunday's no-confidence vote, the Pakistan PM came with evidence that there was a alleged foreign conspiracy behind it. "I am here today because, on March 8 or 7, the US...not the US (giving the impression it was a slip of tongue)...we got a message (from them). For a free country, a message like this is not only against its prime minister but is also against the country itself," he said.

 

 

Pakistan PM earlier shared the contents of a secret letter that was in news last week when he informed a public meeting that his government had received threats from abroad. Imran Khan had claimed that the threatening letter had been sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Pakistan media reports said that letter is the word-for-word transcript of a conversation between the diplomats of Pakistan and another country sent to Pakistan's Foreign Ministry.

 

 

Earlier, he in his address to the nation said that he won't resign while saying that the rebelling legislators from his party have sold their conscience. "Somebody asked me to resign. I will resign? I have played cricket for 20 years, and I play till the last ball. I have never given up in my life," Imran Khan said, adding, "You will see that I will emerge stronger after the vote (on no-confidence), no matter what the result of the vote is."

 

 

The ruling PTI coalition effectively became a minority government on Wednesday when one of the key allies Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) quit and joined ranks with the Opposition. However, in order from this political crisis, he started the blame-game. Playing the victim card, he targeted the US for the crisis in Pakistan and said that the foreign policy of Pakistan is determined by the US. He said that many Pakistanis have lost their lives in the fight against terror, but the US never thanked them. In fact, he said that the US blamed them for their failure in Afghanistan.

 

The Pakistani National Assembly has a total strength of 342 members, with the majority mark being 172. The PTI led coalition was formed with the support of 179 members, with Imran Khan's PTI having 155 members, and four major allies MQM-P, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) and Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) having seven, five, five and three members respectively.

 

 

Imran Khan faces imminent ouster given that three of the four allies-- MQM-P, PML-Q, and BAP-- have now stated their support for the Opposition's no-confidence motion and said that they will vote accordingly.In addition, more than 40 of the ruling PTI's legislators disappeared on the day of the session of the National Assembly on no-confidence on March 25.

 

The Opposition parties in Pakistan on the other hand hold the support of 162 members of the house and are expected to be joined by the three ruling coalition parties during the vote, helping them cross the majority mark, with 179 members supporting the no-confidence motion.

The no-confidence motion was tabled in the house on March 28 with the support of 161 members of the house.