Regime change conspiracy: Supreme Court verdict proves PTI’s narrative fake story

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court’s detailed judgment in deputy speaker ruling case has formally buried the “regime change” conspiracy narrative of Imran Khan-led PTI and proved that it was a fake story and a baseless political account.

There is simply nothing in the entire judgment the PTI could refer to as its success. Instead the court verdict endorsed what had been the viewpoint of the-then opposition parties, presently the ruling coalition, as well as that of the security establishment.

Interestingly, the judgment has been authored by Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial, who has been repeatedly pleaded by Imran Khan to probe the locally-supported US conspiracy that, according to Imran Khan, led to the removal of his government.

The Supreme Court neither found any cogent, reliable and relevant evidence of the PTI’s conspiracy theory nor even found the-then Imran Khan government showing any interest in getting the matter probed and fixing those whom he and his party kept on alleging of being local partners to the conspiracy allegedly hatched by the US.

Imran Khan has been publicly blaming his political opponents, including Nawaz Sharif, Shehbaz Sharif, Asif Ali Zardari and Maulana Fazlur Rehman, for being a part of the US conspiracy for regime change. Khan has also been subtly accusing the military establishment of implementing the US conspiracy of regime change by playing the role of handler.

The SC was rightly surprised that despite receiving the cipher on 07.03.2022, the information conveyed in it was neither investigated by the government nor were its contents alluded to during the sittings of the NA on 28.03.2022 and 31.03.2022. “Also the allegations levelled against the members of the opposition parties were not put to them. It was only on 03.04.2022, when the Resolution of No-Confidence (RNC) was fixed for voting as per the orders of the day, that the law minister raised this matter for the first time before the NA and asked the deputy speaker to give a decision on the constitutionality of the RNC.”

Referring to media reports, the SC said that the cabinet formally gave its approval to constitute a commission under the Pakistan Commissions of Inquiry Act, 2017 (2017 Act) to probe the alleged foreign conspiracy. “The said decision by the government also prima facie indicates the insufficiency of the available evidence, if any, to justify its claim that the RNC was dismissed by the deputy speaker on the ground of national security. Therefore, due to dearth of material, we are unable to accept the said plea or issue a finding on its merits.”

The SC judgment explained that two national security bodies met the same day on 31.03.2022 to discuss and decide the effect and implications of the contents of the cipher. This included the meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security, which was briefed about the contents of the cipher; however, no concrete action was taken by the committee and only a ceremonial condemnation was issued for the 'undiplomatic and uncalled' language used in the cipher.

Nevertheless, a more important meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC) was also held at the Prime Minister's House earlier in the day. It was attended, inter alia, by the PM, related ministers and the four heads of the services.

While referring to the press release issued by the IK government after the NSC meeting, the SC judgment said, “The PMO’s statement shows four important points: i) The NSC unanimously agreed that the communication recorded in the cipher is tantamount to foreign interference in the internal affairs of Pakistan; ii) The NSC concluded that the appropriate response to the undiplomatic posture adopted by a foreign diplomat before Pakistan’s ambassador, as reported in the cipher, was to issue a demarche to the foreign state concerned in accordance with diplomatic norms; iii) No observation was made to the effect that the RNC was moved by the opposition parties or by persons in Pakistan in conspiracy with a foreign state; and iv) No inquiry/investigation was ordered into the matter to ascertain the nature or extent of involvement of any person in Pakistan for seeking or receiving the support of a foreign state to move the RNC.”

The judgment added, “The reservation on the part of the NSC to recommend stronger measures against the alleged foreign conspiracy probably reflects the inadequacy of the material for taking more assertive action. This perhaps also explains the lacklustere response by the PCNS and the members of the treasury in their respective meeting and sitting of 31.03.2022.”