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Imran Khan's attempt at show of strength after exit: '...US-backed regime'
Pak political crisis: Many cities in the country saw protests by Imran Khan supporters a day after his unceremonious ouster.
Imran Khan may have failed the big numbers test in parliament on Saturday but he is not yet ready to relent, it seems, with a large number of supporters out on streets after his exit. His four-year run ended with the opposition voting in favour of the no-confidence motion that Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf tried (PTI) to delay, according to the critics. He is the first prime minister in the country's history to have lost a trust vote.
Islamabad, Karachi, Peshawar, Malakand, Multan Khanewal, Khyber, Jhang and Quetta saw huge demonstrations by the PTI on Sunday and slogans were shouted against the opposition, according to reports, as Khan continues to pitch his ouster as a part of "foreign conspiracy". He had been speaking of his rivals' plan to spend billions amid the apparent attempts to evade the trust vote.
In a late-night tweet on Sunday, the cricketer-politician said: "Thank you to all Pakistanis for their amazing outpouring of support & emotions to protest against US-backed regime change abetted by local Mir Jafars to bring into power a coterie of pliable crooks all out on bail. Shows Pakistanis at home & abroad have emphatically rejected this."
"Never have such crowds come out so spontaneously and in such numbers in our history, rejecting the imported govt led by crooks. (sic)," the 69-year-old said in another post along with a video. PTI spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry had also called on the people to stage protests earlier in the day.
Khan, whose exit became imminent with the economic crisis mounting in the country, has been trying to put up a power show by calling crowds to back him. He has addressed the nation several times on the current political crisis in the last few weeks. A few weeks back, he even led a show of strength in Islamabad.
In the first reactions on Sunday after the ouster, Khan tweeted: "Pakistan became an independent state in 1947; but the freedom struggle begins again today against a foreign conspiracy of regime change. It is always the people of the country who defend their sovereignty & democracy. (sic)"
Shehbaz Sharif, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's brother, is the opposition's pick for replacing Khan. On Monday, at a key parliament session, he is set to be elected.
While the military has ruled the country of 22 million for half of the period in its 75-year history, the army has been silent over the current crisis that befell on Khan and the subsequent leadership change.
(With inputs from PTI, Reuters)
