Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan surprised the country’s legislature on Sunday and advised President Arif Alvi to dissolve the National Assembly and proceed with fresh elections.
Imran Khan addressed the country minutes after Qasim Suri, the National Assembly Deputy Speaker, dismissed a no-confidence motion against the Prime Minister. Suri chaired the crucial session after opposition parties filed a no-confidence motion against Speaker Asad Qaiser.
“I have written to the President to dissolve the assemblies. There should be elections in a democratic way. I call upon the people of Pakistan to prepare for elections”, Prime Minister Imran Khan said in the brief address.
He went on the congratulate the people of Pakistan and tagged the allegations against him as a “foreign conspiracy”.
“The no-confidence motion was a foreign conspiracy against us. Pakistan should decide who should govern them”, Prime Minister Khan said.
Imran Khan received a massive blow when the Pakistan Tehreek Insaf Party “lost the majority” in the National Assembly after losing its key ally in the coalition Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan.
The MQM on Wednesday announced that it had struck a deal with the opposition Pakistan People’s Party and would support the no-trust vote in the 342-member National Assembly.
The Pakistani Prime Minister has been in the crosshairs of the opposition, who were accused of colluding with the United States. Imran Khan said that the United States does not agree with his policies that favour Russia and China over the West.
Khan has circulated a memo which he insists provides proof that Washington conspired with Pakistan’s opposition to unseat him because America wants “me, personally, gone … and everything would be forgiven.”
Pakistan’s main opposition parties have been rallying for Khan’s ouster almost since he was elected in 2018. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s win was mired in controversy amid widespread accusations that Pakistan’s powerful army helped his Pakistan Tehreek Insaf Party to victory.
