‘Surprise’: PM says opposition taken aback by his no-trust move

Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that opposition parties seemed ‘taken aback’ after the National Assembly deputy speaker blocked their move to overthrow his government through a no-confidence vote.

“I want to remind you all that I told you yesterday evening that don’t panic… the opposition still wondering as to what happened to them,” the premier remarked while addressing the PTI leaders in Islamabad on Sunday.

The premier told the party members if he had disclosed his strategy to foil the opposition’s no-trust motion last night, the opposition would not be as shocked by his counter move as they appear now.

PM Imran said the assembly’s proceedings on the matter of no-trust motion and his party’s strength in the lower house of parliament became “irrelevant” after it was established that opposition’s move to overthrow him was part of a “foreign conspiracy”.

PM Imran said National Security Committee (NSC) meeting, the country’s highest security body, also noted that a foreign interference was made into the internal politics of the country through a no-confidence motion.

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He said minutes of the communiqué regarding a meeting between the ambassador of Pakistan in the US and the US officials were shared in the NSC meeting.

The prime minister said a plan was perpetrated outside Pakistan to interfere into internal politics of the country.

The embassy officials of the foreign country were also in contact with the PTI members who had defected, he claimed.

PM Imran suggested on the eve of crucial NA session that he might not accept the result of no-trust vote to oust him.

"How can I accept the result when the entire process is discredited?" he told a select group of foreign journalists at his office. "Democracy functions on moral authority – what moral authority is left after this connivance?"

"The move to oust me is blatant interference in domestic politics by the United States," the premier said, terming it an attempt at "regime change".

PTI Senator Faisal Javed Khan also shared a photo of the prime minister after the 'surprise' move.