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A shopkeeper tunes a television screen to watch the speech of Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, at his shop in Islamabad. (Reuters)
Pakistan News Live Updates: Pakistan Parliament is set to vote on the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan today (April 3). On Saturday, the Premier asked his supporters to take to the streets Sunday and “protest peacefully”.
Khan needs 172 of the 342 votes in the National Assembly to stay in power. However, after his key ally, Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), joined the Opposition camp, the PTI-led coalition government has 164 members while the Opposition has 176.
The PM has blamed the United States for backing the move to oust him, saying it was interfering in domestic politics. The US, however, has denied involvement after he made similar accusations in the past. Khan has been brandishing a “conspiracy letter”, the contents of which were shared with a few journalists earlier this week, stating that a foreign conspiracy was afoot to topple his government.
Differing from Khan, Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa spoke of his country’s “long and excellent” strategic relationship with the US and, in the same breath, targeted Russia over its invasion of Ukraine saying “aggression against a smaller country cannot be condoned” – Khan was on a visit to Moscow when the invasion began. Bajwa also called for dialogue and diplomacy to resolve all outstanding issues including Kashmir with India.