ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's law ministry announced on Saturday the formation of a commission to investigate an alleged foreign conspiracy to topple Prime Minister Imran Khan's government through a no-trust vote.
Allegations of a foreign plot against Khan emerged last week, as he is facing his toughest political challenge since assuming office, with the no-confidence vote against him to be held on Sunday.
The announcement of the formation of the special commission was made shortly after Information Minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain was given the charge of the law ministry.
The prime minister gave him the additional portfolio after Farogh Naseem resigned earlier this week when his Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) party quit the government’s coalition and joined the opposition.
“The commission will look into the global conspiracy behind toppling of the government, no-trust vote and other factors,” the law ministry said a statement, adding that a report would be compiled after the investigation.
The ministry did not specify when the commission would start work, nor its composition.
As the cricketing legend turned prime minister is facing his toughest political challenge since assuming office in 2018, abandoned by coalition partners and with a no-confidence vote against him to be held on Sunday, a scandal transpired last week over a purported letter that contained foreign threats to his government.
Pakistani officials have since said the letter was a cable written by a former Pakistani ambassador to the US, who conveyed threats by a “senior foreign official.”
While Khan himself for days did not mention the country it came from, during a televised address to the nation on Thursday he named the US. Then he tied the allegations to his visit to Moscow in late February, saying that a “powerful” country was angered by him meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the day Russia began its invasion of Ukraine.
The US State Department and the White House have denied the allegations, saying there was “absolutely no truth” to them.
Meanwhile, the opposition has vowed to expose alleged fraud behind the diplomatic cable controversy after coming to power.
“The new government will expose this alleged diplomatic cable fraud,” Khurram Dastgir, a senior lawmaker of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawas (PML-N), said during a press conference in Islamabad.
Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, another senior PML-N lawmaker and former prime minister, said government officials should not obey “illegal” orders of the government that has virtually lost its majority in parliament.
“Officers should follow constitution and law,” he said. “If any interference will be made in the parliamentary process tomorrow, interior ministry and administration be responsible for it.”
Meanwhile, workers and supporters of Khan's ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf have started gathering in Islamabad ahead of the no-trust vote. They were carrying the party's flags and playing songs in support of their beleaguered leader.
“We are here to support Imran Khan in this difficult time of his political career,” Noreen Azhar, a PTI worker told Arab News as Khan's supporters gathered outside Islamabad Press Club.
Islamabad's district administration has since deployed heavy contingents of police in the Red Zone area, which includes the Parliament House and Supreme Court.
