Pakistan PM Khan calls for ‘free country’ street protests ahead of no-confidence vote
- Pakistan’s Prime Minister is calling on supporters to take to the streets for ‘an independent, free’ nation before parliamentary no-confidence vote
- Khan also says there is a ‘conspiracy’ abroad to unseat him and has accused the US of meddling in his nation’s affairs, which it denies
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has called on his supporters to take to the streets on Sunday ahead of a parliamentary no-confidence vote that could see him thrown out of office.
No Pakistan premier has ever completed a full term, and Khan is facing the biggest challenge to his rule since being elected in 2018, with opponents accusing him of economic mismanagement and foreign-policy bungling.
Parliament is due to debate the motion on Sunday, with a vote possibly the same day, but Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party (PTI) effectively lost its majority in the 342-member assembly last week when a coalition partner said its seven lawmakers would vote with the opposition.
More than a dozen PTI lawmakers have also indicated they will cross the floor, although party leaders are trying to get the courts to prevent them from voting.
On Saturday Khan called on supporters to take to the streets to peacefully protest against what he said was a “conspiracy” hatched outside Pakistan to unseat him.
“I want you all to protest for an independent and free Pakistan,” he said during a public question and answer phone-in broadcast by state media.
Earlier this week he accused the United States of meddling in Pakistan’s affairs, with local media reporting he had received a briefing letter from Islamabad’s ambassador to Washington recording a senior US official telling him they felt relations would be better if Khan left office.