ISLAMABAD: Pakistani security agencies have not found “credible evidence” to confirm Prime Minister Imran Khan’s assertion of a foreign conspiracy to oust him from power through a no-confidence vote in parliament, the Reuters news agency reported on Tuesday, citing an official privy to the matter.
Khan has said that Donald Lu, a top US official dealing with South Asia in the US State Department, was involved in the alleged conspiracy to topple his government. Washington has denied the allegation.
The Pakistan premier, who lost his parliamentary majority after defections from his party’s lawmakers and coalition partners joining the opposition, was due to face the no-confidence vote in parliament on Sunday, which many expected him to lose.
But National Assembly Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri, a member of Khan’s party, disallowed the vote, saying it was part of a “foreign conspiracy” and hence “unconstitutional.” The president then dissolved parliament on Khan’s advice.
The moves have since plunged the nuclear-armed country of 220 million people into a full-blown political and constitutional crisis and have been challenged by the opposition in the Supreme Court.
“Pakistan’s security agencies have not found credible evidence to confirm Khan’s complaint of a foreign conspiracy,” Reuters quoted the official, who declined to be named, as saying.
Khan has said that Pakistan’s National Security Committee (NSC) confirmed the plot to overthrow him.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan chairs meeting of the National Security Committee in Islamabad on March 31, 2022. (PID)
However, the official said security agencies “had not come to the same conclusion as Khan and had communicated their view to him,” according to the Reuters report.
A statement issued after the March 31 meeting of the NSC said it discussed the “communication of a senior official of a foreign country” with Pakistan’s the US ambassador.
“The Committee expressed grave concern at the communication, terming the language used by the foreign official as undiplomatic,” the statement said. “The Committee concluded that the communication amounted to blatant interference in the internal affairs of Pakistan by the country in question, which was unacceptable under any circumstances.”
Pakistan subsequently sent a demarche to the United States.
The Pakistani military has not specifically commented on the “threatening” letter or the foreign conspiracy, but on Sunday, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistani army, distanced itself from the political developments.
“Whatever happened today, the institution has nothing to do with it,” DG ISPR Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar told media in response to a question. “There is no involvement of the institution in these developments and there is no connection.”
To a question on whether the military’s consent or advice was sought before taking Sunday’s decisions, the ISPR DG said: “Absolutely not.”
Pakistan’s Supreme Court took suo moto notice of Sunday’s developments and has been hearing the case on a daily basis.
“Our concern is about the legality of the ruling of the speaker,” Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial said at Tuesday’s hearing. “We don’t want to indulge in policy matters.”
The court listened to the arguments from the opposition’s counsels and adjourned the hearing till Wednesday.
The counsels representing the president, prime minister, speaker and others in the government will begin their arguments at Wednesday’s hearing.
The court may order reinstatement of parliament, a new election or restrict Khan from contesting elections if he is found guilty of acting unconstitutionally. It may decide not to intervene in parliamentary affairs as well.
Also on Tuesday, Khan reiterated a conspiracy was hatched from abroad to topple his government. “All those who are part of the foreign conspiracy, they are all traitors,” he told supporters in Lahore.
