Pakistan’s embattled Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday asserted that he will not resign from the post and play till the last ball. In a live address to the nation, the 69-year-old leader said that he will face the no-trust vote scheduled on Sunday (April 3). Sources close to Khan told CNN-News18 that the PM’s address was “historic and landmark”, which helped “galvanised Khan’s core supporters and beyond”.
“We will never back down and will give the ultimate sacrifice to defend Imran Khan and Pakistan. This evil international conspiracy needs to be nipped in the bud. The three stooges and the turncoats should be tried in a special court. Anyone found guilty should be punished to the full extent of the law,” the sources said exclusively to CNN-News18.
During his around 45-minute-long speech, the cricketer-turned-politician also talked about a “threat letter” that purportedly showed “evidence” of a foreign conspiracy to topple his government in the country. Khan named the US as the country behind the threat in what appeared to be a slip of tongue. “America has — oh, not America but a foreign country I can’t name. I mean from a foreign country, we received a message,” he said.
“The letter stated that the no-confidence motion was being tabled even before it was filed, which means the Opposition was in contact with them,” Khan claimed, adding that it was an “official letter” that was communicated to the Ambassador of Pakistan, who was taking notes during the meeting.
Khan, who is the chief of country’s ruling political party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), said the foreign official knew that the ones who would come into power after him would have no issues taking orders from external forces.
“But what is most disturbing is that our people, who are sitting here, are in contact with foreign powers,” he claimed, as he referred to the “three stooges” – Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz president Shehbaz Sharif, Pakistan Peoples Party Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Maulana Fazlur Rehman.
“Will foreign countries want such corrupt people in power in their states? They are ready to accept such corrupt politicians, but I am not acceptable to them. They say that ‘our anger will vanish if Imran Khan loses this no-confidence vote’,” he said.
Khan, a former international cricket star who in 1992 captained Pakistan to their only World Cup win, asserted that he will not resign and fight till the last ball. “I fight till the very last ball. I never quit whatever the result may be. I will come back with more power, whatever the result is.”
Khan needs 172 votes in the lower house of 342 to foil the Opposition’s bid to topple his government. However, the Opposition claims it has the support of 175 lawmakers and Khan should quit. Khan has effectively lost the majority in the National Assembly after his main coalition partner Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) joined hands with the Opposition to support the no-confidence motion against him.
No Pakistani Prime Minister has ever seen out a full term, and Imran Khan is facing the biggest challenge to his rule since being elected in 2018, with Opposition accusing him of economic mismanagement and foreign-policy bungling.
(with inputs from PTI and AFP)
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