ISLAMABAD: As the National Assembly is all set for a crucial voting on the no-confidence motion on April 3, Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Thursday that he is ready to face the no-confidence motion against him regardless of its outcome as quitting without giving a tough fight is not his cup of tea.
In a televised address to the nation after presiding over the all-important National Security Committee, which announced to issue a strong demarche to an unnamed country over the “threat letter,” the prime minister said: “I will come back stronger no matter what the result of no-trust vote and I will not resign and will fight till the last ball as it is a defining moment for the country”.
He said that there is a foreign conspiracy working against his government through people with a tainted past who had a track record of dancing to the tunes of their foreign masters during their stay in power for over 10 years.
“There are enemies inside the country who are hand in glove with them…we are getting messages from some foreign countries [and] they say that they will forgive Pakistan if Imran Khan is removed from power,” he said while referring to the opposition-sponsored no-confidence motion against him.
Taking a jibe at opposition leaders – Asif Zardari, Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Shehbaz Sharif – he said that the “three stooges are sitting here working with foreign powers”. “They [the foreign powers] want Imran Khan, an elected prime minister of an independent country, to be out [from power] and want this certain person to take this place and everything will be fine then,” he regretted while citing the threat letter, where it reportedly mentioned if Imran Khan is removed, things will be alright.
“If you think that your conspiracy will be successful, I want to tell you I will fight this. This is not going to make any difference as my objective to come into power is to lift my nation…neither have I bowed down before anyone nor will I let my nation do so,” he declared.
At the start of his address, the prime minister said that he wanted to talk about something very important with his nation and this was the reason, he is addressing them live instead of broadcasting a recorded speech.
The prime minister discussed the “threat letter” in detail, which purportedly shows evidence of a foreign conspiracy to oust him from power and bring what he said “the stooges” to power, to serve them and make the nation a slave once again.
In what appeared a slip of tongue, he named the “United States of America” as the country behind the threat, but he quickly corrected himself and said “not the US as it’s a foreign country.”
“I am here today because on March 8 or 7, the United States ...not the US...we got a message from a foreign country. For an independent country, a message like this is not only against its prime minister but is also an insult to the country itself,” he regretted.
PM Imran will not resign ahead of no-confidence vote, says Fawad
He continued that the country from where the threat letter came from was aware beforehand that a no-trust motion against the prime minister is coming when it had not even been submitted.
“It means that they [the opposition parties] were in touch with the people abroad, who said that they were angry with Pakistan…they make this excuse,” he added.
In an official document where notes were taken from both sides during the meeting with our ambassador and the official of the country in question, he added, it was told that if Imran Khan remains the prime minister, our ties will suffer and you will face more difficulties.
In the same breath, the prime minister said that he wanted to tell his nation that this is how they want to treat the elected prime minister of 220 million people, adding they said that Imran Khan decided to go to Russia at his own even though the Foreign Office and the military leadership were consulted before visiting Moscow.
“Our ambassador told them [the foreigners] that the decision to visit Russia was made after consultations with the Foreign Office and the military leadership but they are denying it and saying that it was only because of Imran Khan and that our ties cannot be good if he stays. What they are actually saying is that they have no issue with the people who will replace Imran Khan and who the people are, you know, the three stooges, who have graft cases against them at various courts,” he added.
PM Khan further stated that the foreign powers have developed a liking for Shehbaz Sharif, Fazlur Rehman, and Asif Ali Zardari as they know where the trio has put their ill-gotten money, adding 400 drone attacks took place inside Pakistan when Asif Zardari and Nawaz Sharif were in power, and none of them bothered to condemn it even once.
The prime minister then took a jibe at Shehbaz’s criticism of him saying “absolutely not” to the US in case of a request for military bases in Pakistan.
“I only said that we are with you in peace but not in war as our foreign policy is independent. I don’t talk against anyone. I only say that my biggest responsibility is the 220m Pakistanis. When did you (Shehbaz) take a stand... you and your brother can never talk, they know where your assets are,” he said while referring to Sharif’s criticism of him over saying “absolutely not” to the US as well as the EU envoys’ demand to condemn Russian invasion of Ukraine.
At the end, the prime minister warned those supporting the no-confidence motion against him despite knowing it is being done on the dictation of the foreign powers to damage his independent foreign policy through their stooges in Pakistan, saying the “future generations of the country will neither forgive them nor your foreign handlers”.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
Comments
Comments are closed.