In the midst of the country’s political crisis, Prime Minister Imran Khan sent a message to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers and supporters on Saturday, assuring them that “our country’s crooks and traitors are sliding into a trap.”
“Message to my workers and supporters: The crooks and traitors of our country are falling in a trap,” the premier wrote on his official Twitter handle along with a quote from renowned Sufi saint and Persian poet Shams Tabrizi.
Message to my workers and supporters: The crooks and traitors of our country are falling in a trap. pic.twitter.com/bNxD8QIiy6
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) March 19, 2022
The premier’s comments came at a time when political tensions were at an all-time high in previous years, with the opposition preparing to topple Prime Minister Imran Khan via a no-confidence vote.
Following a warning from a major ally that the premier could lose his coalition partners, several of PM Imran’s legislators withdrew their support for him, raising further doubts about whether the former cricket star can stay in power.
PM Imran had voiced hope earlier in the day that most of the ruling PTI’s dissenting lawmakers would return to the party before the no-trust vote against him in the National Assembly.
Later in the day, PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari threatened to scupper an OIC session scheduled for March 22-23 in Islamabad if the National Assembly speaker delays a no-confidence vote against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Parliamentarians whose defect can lose their seats under the country’s floor-crossing statute if they vote against their party afterwards, but Imran’s government is examining whether this applies before they cast votes.
“You know, only murder isn’t a crime; attempted murder is also a crime,” a minister previously told Reuters.
PM Imran is blamed by the opposition for mismanaging the country’s economy and foreign policy. No Pakistani prime minister has ever served his whole tenure.
PM Imran’s party, which has 155 seats in the lower house, would not be able to keep power without the coalition partners and dissidents. In the lower house, the combined opposition has almost 163 members.
