Pak PM Imran Khan summons NSC meeting ahead of no confidence vote

PTI, Mar 31, 2022, 3:50 PM IST

Pakistan’s embattled Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday summoned a meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC), the highest forum for discussion on security issues, a day after he effectively lost majority in Parliament after a key partner of the ruling coalition joined the ranks of the Opposition which had tabled a no-confidence motion against his government.

The NSC meeting will be held at the Prime Minister’s House, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry tweeted. The NSC is chaired by the Prime Minister and attended by services chiefs, key ministers, national security adviser and top intelligence officials.

Prime Minister Khan will also address the nation this evening, Chaudhry said in another tweet. Separately, Senator Faisal Javed Khan, a confidante of Prime Minister Khan, also tweeted to confirm the address and said that the exact time of the speech would be shared later.

The development comes a day after the premier shared a letter – purportedly showing evidence of a ”foreign conspiracy” to oust his government – with his cabinet members in a hurriedly called meeting, which was not attended by PTI’s two major allies – Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) – despite being invited.

Khan also called a select group of TV anchors and informed them that ”the language of the letter was threatening and arrogant” and that Pakistan would face dire consequences if the no-confidence motion failed. However, the premier did not show the letter to the media, the Dawn newspaper reported.

The lower House of Pakistan’s Parliament is scheduled to meet on Thursday for a debate on the no-confidence motion tabled by the joint Opposition against Khan to topple his government.

The NSC meeting coincides with the National Assembly session to debate the no-confidence motion against the Prime Minister.

Meanwhile, the letter was apparently losing steam as it was written by none other than a Pakistani envoy and is based on a meeting of embassy officials with the officials of the host country, who expressed displeasure at the foreign policy of Pakistan about the ongoing Ukraine war.

Following the pressure by the Opposition, the government has also indicated to brief a parliament body on security about the letter.

”If the parliamentary leaders from the government and the opposition side agree, the issue of the sensitive letter can be discussed at an in-camera meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security,” Asad Qaisar, Speaker of the National Assembly tweeted.