Pakistan’s defiant ex-PM Imran Khan calls for protests to force elections
- Pakistan’s ousted prime minister Imran Khan announced a plan to topple the new government
- He called for his supporters to march peacefully on Islamabad on May 25 for a protest
Recently ousted Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan asked his supporters to march on Islamabad, the nation’s capital, for a sit-in on May 25 as a way to press the government to quit and call new elections.
Khan’s move is likely to fuel further political instability in a country already facing an economic crisis from rising inflation.
At a Sunday press conference in Peshawar, the former cricket star urged his backers to protest for as long as needed. Khan recently has held a series of rallies – aimed at channelling anger against the government of new Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif – drawing massive crowds across the country.
“We will not accept this government,” said Khan. “We will sit in Islamabad until they dissolve the assemblies and announce a date for elections that are transparent and without any foreign interference.”
Khan, 69, was ousted in April after a no-confidence vote in parliament. He blamed the US for “conspiring” to engineer his downfall, a claim the administration of President Joe Biden has rejected.
The former leader’s plan puts the new government on the defensive as it attempts to deal with mounting public anger from Asia’s second-fastest rate of inflation, currently behind only Sri Lanka. Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves of US$10.2 billion are enough to cover less than two months of imports, stocks have tumbled 6 per cent in a month, and its currency is trading at a record low of 200 rupees to the US dollar.
Pakistan’s international bonds due in 2031 fell to a record low on Thursday amid investor concerns the government’s hesitation to take unpopular steps like raising fuel prices will delay an IMF bailout.