Alwaght- Pakistani Premier Imran Khan named on Sunday the senior US government official behind the controversial letter that threatened to overthrow Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) government.
Addressing a meeting of party leaders in Islamabad after the no-trust motion against him was dismissed in the country’s parliament; Khan said that during the national security committee's (NSC) meeting, foreign interference was noted in the internal politics of the country through a no-confidence motion.
He went on to mention the name of Donald Lu, the top American official dealing with South Asia in the US State Department, as the person involved in the ‘foreign conspiracy' to topple his government.
The embattled premier claimed that Lu had warned the Pakistani envoy to the US, Asad Majeed, that there would be "implications" if Khan survived the no-trust vote in the National Assembly, the lower house of the parliament.
He further said that minutes of the communiqué regarding a meeting between the ambassador of Pakistan in the US and the US officials were shared in the NSC meeting.
Khan said the embassy officials of the US were also in contact with the PTI members who had defected, reiterating that the no-confidence motion against him was a “foreign conspiracy”.
On Saturday, Khan openly and defiantly held the US responsible for the “foreign conspiracy” to overthrow his government.
“Ok I'm taking the name of US, the conspiracy has been hatched with the help of America to remove me,” he told his party colleagues in Islamabad.
In a high-drama event on Sunday, the lower house of the parliament rejected the no-trust vote tabled by the opposition parties against Khan.
Deputy speaker of Pakistan's national assembly, Qasim Suri, asserted that no foreign power will be allowed to "topple an elected government through a conspiracy," calling the vote against the sitting premier "unconstitutional" under Article 5 of the country's constitution.
Later, in his televised address on the state-run television, Khan congratulated the people of Pakistan and repeated that the move to overthrow him was a "foreign conspiracy."
He also requested President Arif Alvi to dissolve the parliament under Article 58(1) of the constitution and called on the nation to gear up for a fresh election.
Talking to his party colleagues later in the day, Khan said that the opposition members were in a state of shock after the vote failed and they did not know what had happened to them.
Pakistan’s Supreme Court is set to decide whether the deputy speaker's move to reject the opposition's vote of no-confidence and the subsequent request by Khan to the President to dissolve the parliament is constitutional or not.
President Alvi, in a Twitter post on Monday, said Khan would stay on as prime minister in a caretaker role.
Khan’s fate is now in a state of limbo which would lead to fresh political instability in the country. The court could bar him from standing again if he is found to have acted unconstitutionally.
The relationship between US and Pakistan has been at odds since the US hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan last summer.
The growing alignment between China and Pakistan also casts a shadow over US policy towards Pakistan.
