From Imran Khan’s smile to his ‘no comments’

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that he will not resign and fight till the last ball to defeat the opposition’s no-trust move, which, the premier insisted, is a foreign sponsored conspiracy.

In a talk with The News here on Thursday, the premier said that he knows the details of the ‘conspiracy’ that he believed has been hatched by an influential foreign capital and was being implemented with the help of local players.

He, however, avoided going into details and when pressed, just responded with a smile. The premier also did not offer any comment when asked about his response to the military establishment’s backdoor efforts to facilitate a dialogue between the government and the opposition for an amicable solution to the present political situation. “I will not comment on this,” he said, hurriedly adding that he would fight till the end without resorting to any illegal and immoral means.

He lamented that the opposition is involved in immoral and unethical activities to get him removed. The premier was convinced that the no-trust motion against him is the consequence of a foreign conspiracy. He said those who want to remove him want a compliant government in Islamabad to serve their (the foreign capital’s) interest.

Imran Khan, without naming the foreign capital or sharing the precise details of what has been conveyed to Pakistan in an harsh diplomatic communication, said that his government has shared some details of the communication with the cabinet committee on national security, the parliamentary committee on national security and others including journalists. He said that since the details of the foreign country’s threat are in front of everybody, he would expect from the members of parliament and the people to respond to this foreign threat by defeating the no-trust move.

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The premier said that he could not offer money or use any illegal means to buy the conscience of the MPs as is being allegedly done by the opposition. While referring to the Islamic teaching that encourages Muslims to do good and prevent evil, Khan lamented that the political leaders’ behavior is far from what Islam teaches us.

Although the prime minister did not choose to comment on the military establishment’s effort to encourage the government and the opposition to reach an amicable solution to the present political confrontation, sources say that the parties concerned did not agree to get into it before the conclusion of the no-trust move.

Media reports suggest that the government was willing to agree to an early election in return for the withdrawal of the no-trust move. However, the opposition did not agree to compromise and back down from its no-confidence motion.

Some opposition leaders are giving the impression that Imran Khan was behind the establishment’s consensus-seeking initiative. But the fact is that the initiative by the military establishment was not influenced by the prime minister or the government. It was The News, which on March 23, broke the story that the establishment had agreed to encourage the government and the opposition to sit together for a consensus-oriented national agenda for the political and economic stability of the country,

An informed source had told The News that the establishment would not take any side, would stay neutral but would encourage both Prime Minister Imran Khan and the opposition leaders to sit and talk about a better future, strong economy and the the political stability of the country.

The establishment had responded to some suggestions, discussed in a TV talk show, aimed at seeking its help in making the government and the opposition sit together and agree to a national agenda to correct the fundamentals of the country’s economy, governance, accountability, electoral and justice system.

The idea was to make the two sides sit under one roof and then leave it to them to agree on an agenda for the betterment of the country and its people.