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'Even if Imran Khan loses...': Pakistan interior minister on no-trust vote
The Constitution does not specify how long the process of electing a new leader should take after a no-trust vote succeeds and Imran Khan will continue as the PM till that time, Pakistan minister said.
Pakistan interior minister Sheikh Rashid on Saturday said that even if Prime Minister Imran Khan loses the no-confidence motion on April 3, he will continue to hold the office until a new leader is sworn in. "According to Article 94 of the Constitution, the PM will continue even if he loses the trust vote. How long? Law is not clear on that. However, the situation of Pakistan's politics can change every moment in the coming 24 hours," the minister said.
“Those who have conspired should be tried for treason,” the minister said adding that there are two options in front of Pakistan now: One, early election, two, all Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf lawmakers resign from their seats. "If all PTI members resign, I want to see how they manage to rule the country," the minister added.
As Imran Khan is set to face a no-trust motion in the assembly on Sunday, a petition on Saturday was moved in the Supreme Court seeking the suspension of the assembly proceedings. The petition, as reported by Dawn, said that members of the Parliament were "acting on the instigation of foreign hostile countries acting against the polity and integrity of Pakistan" and had "conspired, conceived and hatched a move in the form of a no-confidence motion before the National Assembly of Pakistan to oust a lawfully elected Federal Government".
Imran Khan who has been alleging foreign conspiracy behind the opposition's move on Friday said he will prefer an early election as he will not resign. He said the 'establishment' gave him three options -- resign, trust vote and early election -- and he chooses an early election. The military 'establishment' however distanced itself from the claim and said it did not give him the opposition's option and its stand is neutral in the ongoing turmoil.
Imran Khan said he was aware of the conspiracy since August last year. "He (Nawaz Sharif) was meeting people, people like Hussain Haqqani who was involved in memogate. They were in constant touch," Imran Khan said.
