“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,” tweeted Imran Khan.
The cricketer-turned-politician became the first premier in the country’s history to lose the trust of the lower house of Parliament.A high drama was played out in Islamabad as Khan’s supporters accused Washington of orchestrating his ouster and his party walked out of Parliament shortly before the vote. As many as 174 lawmakers in the 342-seat parliament voted in the favour of the motion, two more than the required simple majority.Khan has, meanwhile, called on his supporters to take to the streets in protest, and the political opposition preparing to install his replacement.
Shehbaz Sharif, the brother of disgraced former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, has been chosen to replace Khan. Khan’s successor will be elected and sworn in on Monday.Sharif heads the largest party in a diverse alliance of opposition factions that span the spectrum from the left to radically religious. Khan’s nominee for prime minister will be his foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.
Khan has claimed the US worked behind the scenes to bring him down, purportedly because of Washington’s displeasure over his independent foreign policy choices, which often favour China and Russia.He has occasionally defied America and stridently criticised America’s post 9/11 war on terror. Khan said America was deeply disturbed by his visit to Russia and his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24, the start of the devastating war in Ukraine.
