Text/Dongfeng
Imran Khan said the United States worked behind the scenes and that his independent diplomacy displeased the United States.
Supporters chanted: We want Imran Khan to come back
Pakistan's prime minister, Imran Khan, was ousted from parliament's vote of no confidence in the early hours of Sunday, putting Pakistan on an uncertain political path that the country will plunge into months of political turmoil. For now, tens of thousands of his supporters have taken to the streets in protest, while the political opposition is preparing to appoint his successor.
Now, thousands of imran Khan's supporters marched in cities across Pakistan, waving huge party flags and vowing to support him. These young people are the backbone of Imran Khan's supporters, and they are the main force in the crowd. In karachi, a port city in the southern Arabian Sea, more than 20,000 people chanted slogans promising to put Khan back in power. In the capital Islamabad, as Imran Khan stood on a brightly colored truck through the crowds, lights from tens of thousands of supporters lit up the night sky.
Imran Khan was ousted within a day, and his supporters accused Washington of plotting his ouster, and his party walked out of parliament shortly before the vote. In the end, 174 of the 342 seats in parliament voted to remove him, two more votes than the simple majority required. Imran Khan's successor will be sworn in in parliamentary elections on Monday. The leading contender is Shahbaz Sharif, the brother of disgraced former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Shahbaz Sharif leads one of the largest opposition coalitions, which range from left-wing to radical religious factions, and Imran Khan's nominee for prime minister will be his foreign minister, Kureshi. In an interview with local television, Qureshi said the party was still debating whether its MPs would resign from parliament after the prime minister voted.
Imran Khan's ouster comes as his relations with the powerful military are cooling, Pakistan's economy is struggling with high inflation and the plunging Pakistani rupee, and the opposition accuses Khan's government of mismanagement.
Sunday's vote is seen as the end of a week-long constitutional crisis that has plagued the country. The incident began last Sunday, when Imran Khan tried to circumvent a no-confidence vote by dissolving parliament and holding early elections. It was then referred to the Supreme Court, which finally ruled to reinstate Parliament and call for a vote.
Imran Khan said the United States was working behind the scenes to oust him, allegedly because Washington was unhappy with his choices for an independent foreign policy, which tended to favor China and Russia. He occasionally scorned the United States and sharply criticized the United States for its war on terror after 9/11. Imran Khan said the United States was deeply disturbed by his visit to Russia and his Feb. 24 meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The State Department naturally denied his allegations, with Steckard, a Pakistan expert based at the Stimson Center in the United States, arguing that even during his tenure as prime minister, Imran Khan often played the role of opposition leader. "If he is fired, he will play a role that he is very familiar with, carrying the identity of a victim who is a victim of unfounded allegations of international interference," she said. His base will remain loyal, though I expect his controversial attempts to remain in power and the reduction in military support will cost him less loyal supporters. ”
According to US media, Imran Khan seems to have no choice. The general election will not be held before August 2023. Even if the new prime minister supports early elections, this is unlikely to happen before October. Pakistan's Election Commission, which oversees the vote, told the Supreme Court last week that it still needs to readjust constituencies based on the results of the 2017 census before the vote can take place.
After Sunday's vote, huge steel containers piled up, blocking the main road to parliament and the diplomatic enclave in the capital Islamabad. Imran Khan called on his supporters to hold a rally Sunday night after the end of the Muslim Ramadan daily fast from dawn to dusk.
Michael Cougelman, deputy director of the Asia program at the Wilson Center in Washington, predicts that Pakistan will face turbulent times. Imran Khan's defeat would also make Pakistan a partisan place, "the country needs time to pick up the pieces, and the coming months will be political turmoil." ”
The United States, presumably, is secretly laughing.