By PTI
ISLAMABAD: Ahead of Sunday’s no-trust motion against him, embattled Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday got a shot in the arm following his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party’s “overwhelming success” in the local government election in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
The ruling PTI was leading in the second phase of the local government polls in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as counting of votes was still underway, the Geo News reported.
The polling was held for the slots of chairmen and mayors of 65 tehsil councils.
The results show that the count for 48 out of 64 tehsil councils is complete.
According to the unconfirmed results, PTI succeeded in 24 tehsil councils and is in a leading position in seven tehsil councils.
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) won seven seats and is leading in four other tehsil councils.
Independent candidates succeeded in seven tehsil councils and are in the lead in one council.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) managed to clinch two tehsil councils and is leading in three others, while Jamaat-e-Islami succeeded in three councils and is in the leading position in one council.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) won one seat and is leading in another, while Awami National Party (ANP) bagged two tehsil councils.
Congratulating the PTI team for its “overwhelming success” in the local elections, Prime Minister Khan said the people of the province have rejected the “traitors”.
Taking to Twitter over success in the majority of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa tehsils, Khan said, “Congratulations to CM @IMMahmoodKhan & our PTI team for their overwhelming success in Phase 2 of KP LG polls. Ppl of KP have emphatically rejected the traitors who sold out to foreign masters. This is an early warning to all traitors of what awaits them in their constituencies.”
Prime Minister Khan, 69, on Wednesday effectively lost majority in Parliament after Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), a key partner of the ruling coalition, joined the ranks of the Opposition, which had tabled a no-confidence motion against his government in the National Assembly.
The crucial vote on the no-confidence motion will take place on Sunday.
The resignation of the chief minister of Pakistan’s Punjab province Usman Buzdar was accepted on Friday, ahead of the crucial vote on the no-confidence motion against Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday.
Buzdar, a close aide of Khan, submitted his resignation to the Prime Minister on March 28 after a delegation of senior lawmakers had submitted a no-trust motion against him in the provincial assembly.
Following Buzdar’s resignation, Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had announced that Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi from the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) will be its candidate as Punjab chief minister.
Elahi is the Speaker of the provincial assembly.
The move had come as the ruling PTI stepped up efforts to ensure the support of its allies ahead of the no-trust vote against Prime Minister Khan in the National Assembly, against the backdrop of multiple PTI allies joining the Opposition.
On Friday, Punjab Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar accepted the resignation Buzdar and has summoned a session of the Punjab Assembly on Saturday to elect the new leader of the House, the Geo News reported.
The PML-Q, which was an important ally of the PTI at the Centre and the Punjab province, acquired a central role in the ongoing political drama despite having only five Members of the National Assembly.
The PML-Q had reportedly asked Prime Minister Khan to announce Elahi as the replacement of Buzdar before calling the National Assembly session to take up the Opposition’s no-trust motion.
Buzdar’s removal was also sought by Prime Minister Khan’s closest confidants in the party.
The Opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) submitted the motion against Buzdar, 52, with the signatures of 127 lawmakers.
Following the acceptance of the resignation, Buzdar held a two-hour-long meeting with Elahi, where the two leaders discussed the future course of action for the election of the latter to the chief minister’s office.
The prime minister nominated the PML-Q leader as the chief minister in a bid to ensure his party’s support for foiling the no-confidence motion against him.
But even after securing the PML-Q’s support, Khan has fallen short of numbers in the National Assembly as the allies, MQM-P, BAP, and others, have sided with the Opposition.
Elahi is expected to face a tough time getting elected to the office as the ruling PTI’s Aleem Khan group , having the support of several MPs, has refused to back Khan’s nominee.
The Aleem and Jahangir Tareen groups had also voiced concerns against the governance under Buzdar and sought support from the Opposition to oust him.
Once the nomination papers for the chief minister’s office are submitted and the scrutiny process concludes, the candidate who secures the votes of the majority of the total membership of the Assembly will be declared the chief minister.
Pakistan summoned a senior US diplomat here and lodged a strong protest over America’s alleged “interference” in its internal affairs, an official statement said on Friday.
The US State Department on Thursday firmly rejected embattled Prime Minister Imran Khan’s remarks over Washington’s role in an alleged “foreign conspiracy” to oust him from power.
In a live address to the nation, 69-year-old Khan discussed a ‘threat letter’ and termed it as part of a foreign conspiracy to remove him as he was not acceptable for following an independent foreign policy.
He named the US as the country behind the threat letter in what appeared to be a slip of tongue.
US Charge d’ Affaires in Islamabad Angela P Aggeler was summoned by the Foreign Office (FO) over a “threatening letter” that warned of dire consequences if the Opposition’s no-confidence motion against Khan failed, the Dawn newspaper reported.
The step was taken after a decision by Pakistan’s National Security Council (NSC) on Thursday.
The Foreign Office also handed over a letter of protest to the US diplomat over the language used by a foreign official during a formal communication.
The US diplomat has been told that “interference in Pakistan’s internal affairs is unacceptable”, the report said.
The NSC decided to issue the strong demarche to the “country” that, in an interaction, expressed displeasure at Pakistan’s policy on Ukraine and subsequently Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US Masood Khan sent a letter to the Foreign Office on the issue.
Prime Minister Khan linked the letter with the no-confidence motion against him by the Opposition in the National Assembly.
The National Assembly is scheduled to vote on the no-trust motion on Sunday.
Khan’s address came at a critical juncture of his political career when he lost majority after defection from his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.
Two of his allied parties also withdrew their support and joined the ranks of the Opposition.
The US has asserted that it did not send any letter to Pakistan on the current political situation in the country as it sought to refute allegations of America’s involvement in the no-confidence motion against the Imran Khan-led government.
Khan met President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin on February 24, the day the Russian leader ordered a “special military operation” against Ukraine.
Khan also became the first Pakistani premier to visit Russia in 23 years after former premier Nawaz Sharif travelled to Moscow in 1999.
