ISLAMABAD: Shehbaz Sharif, opposition leader in the National Assembly of Pakistan, on Friday lashed out at Prime Minister Imran Khan, accusing him of using the foreign conspiracy "trick" to save himself from an imminent defeat in the no-confidence vote in parliament.
Opposition parties have been eager to vote on the crucial no-confidence resolution against the prime minister on Sunday. The opposition needs 172 votes in the 342-member National Assembly to oust PM Khan.
A couple of days earlier, Khan spoke of a purported letter received on March 7 that contained “threats” to his government. He, however, stopped short of naming the country behind it. Pakistani officials have since said the letter was a cable written by a former Pakistani diplomat to the United States (US), who conveyed threats by a “senior foreign official.”
In a televised address to the nation on Thursday, Khan blamed the US for backing a political campaign to oust him. He said the move was aimed at hindering his efforts to pursue an independent foreign policy for Pakistan. Washington has denied the accusation.
“Who are you trying to fool,” Sharif asked at a press conference in Islamabad. “We know this is your last trick.”
He said the opposition had shown it had more than 172 lawmakers in its camp during Thursday’s National Assembly session. The prime minister “can see defeat written on the wall” and that he would be sent packing by the opposition on Sunday, the opposition leader said.
“If this letter was received on March 7, then why were you silent for three weeks,” Sharif questioned. "If it actually happened, you should have raised the issue then and there."
Sharif wondered why the Khan government had invited the US under-secretary to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) moot in Islamabad last month.
“Why then did the foreign minister say that cordial relations between the OIC and the US had been established,” he asked. “Why did you celebrate 75 years of Pakistan’s diplomatic relations with the US then?”
Speaking to the media later, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Bilawal Bhutto Zardari warned the prime minister not to make a democratic, legal process such as the vote of no-confidence, "controversial."
“The cricketer has already lost, he is now crying on the pitch,” he said, taunting PM Khan, who has been a celebrated cricketer in the past and had led Pakistan to the World Cup glory in 1992.
At first, Bilawal said, the prime minister claimed the opposition’s move to bring the no-confidence motion against him was a “gift” for his government.
The premier was now terming it part of an "international conspiracy," he lamented.