Imran Khan says he will not accept 'imported government', calls for street protests
India Today
Pakistan’s embattled Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is set to face a no-confidence motion on Saturday, said that he would never support an "imported government" in Pakistan and urged citizens to take to the streets in protest on Sunday evening.
A defiant Imran Khan said on Friday that he will not accept any "imported government" in Pakistan as he expressed disappointment over the Supreme Court’s verdict on the National Assembly deputy speaker’s controversial decision on the rejection of a no-trust motion against him.
In a live-address to the nation ahead of the no-trust motion on Saturday, 69-year-old Khan asked his supporters to join him on the street on Sunday evening.
"I respect the Supreme Court and the judiciary, but the apex court should have looked at a threat letter before issuing its verdict,” Khan said in his address perhaps last to the nation as the prime minister of the country.
Pakistan LIVE
Khan, who has effectively lost the majority in the 342-member house, repeated his allegations that a US diplomat threatened regime change in Pakistan. In a landmark 5-0 verdict, a five-member bench headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial on Thursday unanimously struck down the deputy speaker's ruling on the rejection of the no-confidence motion against Khan and ordered restoration of the National Assembly, saying the prime minister's move to dissolve Parliament and call early elections was "unconstitutional".
The court also ordered the speaker of the lower house to call the session of the national assembly on April 9 at 10 am (local time) to organise a no-confidence vote. It ordered the election of the new prime minister if the no-confidence motion succeeded.
The opposition parties need 172 members in the 342-member house to orchestrate the downfall of Prime Minister Khan and they already showed the support of more than the needed strength.
