Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan is facing the biggest challenge of his political career, as the opposition seeks to remove him from office in a vote of no confidence, to be held during a session of the National Assembly on Sunday.
The crucial National Assembly session for the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan will be held tomorrow (Sunday) at 11:30am (local time), according to Pakistan's Geo News.
Khan claimed on Friday that the "establishment" had given him three options: "resignation, no-confidence [vote] or elections", following the filing of a no-confidence motion against him in the National Assembly.
He shared this during an interview to ARY News, which was aired on Friday, while responding to questions about whether the opposition, government or "another party" had proposed early elections and his resignation as options.
The premier said when he was presented with the three options, "We said elections is the best option, I cannot even think about resigning and as far as the no-confidence vote is concerned, I believe in fighting till the end."
Pointing out that several members of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf had defected to the opposition ahead of the no-trust vote, the premier explained that even if the opposition's no-trust move failed, "We cannot run the government with such people (defectors)."
Meanwhile, top opposition leaders have warned the government against any unconstitutional or undemocratic step to obstruct the democratic move.
Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly and PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif accused the prime minister of staging a drama of international conspiracy and said the so-called ‘threatening letter’ received from America was the last ditch effort to escape the no-confidence resolution against him in the name of national security threat.
“You [Imran Khan] are doing so because your defeat is imminent on Sunday and you are seeing the writing on the wall,” he remarked.
While speaking at a press conference here on Friday, Mr Sharif claimed that the Imran Khan-led PTI came into power through massive rigging, but the combined opposition opted for a constitutional and democratic way to throw him out.
A simple majority of 172 in the 342-seat National Assembly against the former cricket legend would cut short his tenure as PM. On Wednesday, the magic number was breached when his main coalition ally, the MQM, joined the opposition. It means on paper the opposition now commands 175 votes to the government's 164.
Railing against his arch-rivals - three-time premier Nawaz Sharif and Asif Zardari, husband of the murdered PM Benazir Bhutto - Khan also pointed to a letter, alleging it contained evidence of a "foreign conspiracy" in cahoots with "corrupt thieves" aiming to topple his government.
In an address to the nation on Thursday, he alleged the conspiracy was being directed by the US, which he said was angry at his foreign policies and was working with his opponents to unseat him. The US State Department said it was not true.
