The no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan and his PTI is flaunted as a conspiracy hatched by the foreign powers and movers of the motion their stooges. Several PTI ministers have lashed out at the opposition on the social media and termed them “servants of the West and the US”. The PM called them ‘rats’ obeying the foreign masters.
The PTI’s social media activists also jumped on the bandwagon, and blamed the opposition for receiving billions of dollars from the Western powers to topple the Khan government. One vlogger revealed the amount – a hefty Rs18 crore — that the foreign handlers have paid to each member to cast a vote against Khan in the no-confidence motion.
Also, the PM and his party members alleged the PPP is spending Sindh’s money to bribe disgruntled PTI MNAs. Khan thundered at public gatherings that PPP supermo Asif Ali Zardai has opened seals of the cash-boxes to win over loyalties of the PTI MNAs. They have however not provided evidence to substantiate such allegations.
The central question, why would the West conspire against the PTI government, remains unanswered.
There is no need to conspire against a party that has been under the hanging sword of being disqualified in the foreign funding case.
The PTI enjoys a razor thin majority since day one. The allies, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) and Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM), have been uncomfortable with the government for long. The BAP participated in a number of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) rallies and even called on the PDM leadership more than once. The PML-Q and MQM though refrained from openly siding with the PDM, both met the opposition leaders ahead of the no-confidence motion.
There is no need to conspire against a party that has been under the hanging sword of being disqualified in the foreign funding case. The PTI tried to delay the conclusion of the case either by questioning the jurisdiction of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) or appointing new lawyers after every few months. The party changed nine lawyers in 75 hearings – yet failed to present any irrefutable evidence to the ECP.
There is no need to conspire against a party that took inflation to new heights. Everyday commodities such as sugar, flour, oil and petrol prices increased by 100, 45, 88 and 57 percent respectively. The power tariff has witnessed a 40 percent increase since 2018, let alone LNG and sui-gas prices.
And, there is no need to conspire against a party that has failed on the foreign policy fronts. The PTI’s foreign policy outlook in the past three years has been disastrous. India stripped Kashmir’s autonomy, and the PTI government has failed to put pressure on India to reverse the decision. The CPEC has reportedly slowed down, and it has irked our old and trusted friend China. After the US pullout from Afghanistan, Pakistan has not developed fresh relations with the Taliban government that has kept a safe distance with Islamabad.
The PTI has clearly allowed matters to slip out of hand. Khan has not bothered to consult the opposition on critical national interests. He didn’t heed to the demands of allies, as was pointed out by Speaker Pervaiz Elahi. The PTI relied on political victimization and used NAB to coerce the opponents.
Around the same time last year, the PM sought a vote of confidence from the parliament. He said, “This is your democratic right. You can say you are not with Imran Khan. I will respect you”. A year later, Khan vows to resist the no-confidence motion against him. This unprecedented challenge forces Khan to blame the foreign powers and re-plug the horse-trading mantra.
