Prime Minister #ImranKhan in live TV address: We accept the decision of the Supreme Court of #Pakistan
PM #ImranKhan: I respect the Judiciary but disappointed in the verdict by the Supreme Court of #Pakistan
PM #ImranKhan live on TV repeats claims about a conspiracy; says he can't make the diplomatic cable public but repeats earlier claims: a foreign official knew of no-confidence vote; arrogantly gave orders to our diplomat there will be consequences if Khan survivors!
PM #ImranKhan calls #Pakistan media "shameless;" claims his party lawmaker Shandana was invited to the #US Embassy and asked to turn against Khan
PM #ImranKhan: The West knows no Pakistani better than Imran Khan!
PM #ImranKhan gets into detailed graphic description of more than a decade old #US drone attacks in #Afghanistan and #Pakistan's tribal areas, appealing to publicly emotions
PM #ImranKhan defends #Russia on the economic sanctions it is facing because of #Ukraine [likely a wink back at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement in his favor, endorsing the alleged conspiracy]
PM #ImranKhan is using his live speech on state media to hammer his narrative that #Pakistan's leadership is sold out and beholden to the West; incites younger Pakistanis "to take a stand"
PM #ImranKhan repeats in his speech that #Pakistan's foreign policy "is not independent"
PM #ImranKhan announces he will not accept the Government of #Pakistan that will replace him
#Pakistan PM #ImranKhan implies any Government to replace him will be foreign-installed
PM #ImranKhan calls the Government of #Pakistan to come after him "imported"
PM #ImranKhan on future #Pakistan governments "I will never accept this imported government."
PM #ImranKhan calls on Pakistanis to come out on streets on Sunday to protest "imported" next Government of #Pakistan
PM #ImranKhan incites Pakistanis, quoting Islamic verses against future "imported" Governments of #Pakistan: "I have decided to launch a struggle. I will never accept the imposition of an imported government on Pakistan."
PM #ImranKhan appeared calm, collected, in what likely is his last TV speech in office. He declared #Pakistan is not independent in foreign policy; praised #India+#Russia; called future 🇵🇰 govts "imported," won't recognize them; & invited Pakistanis to challenge them on streets:
The most significant part of PM #ImranKhan's speech is that he underlined his respect for the Judiciary, and that he accepts Supreme Court of #Pakistan verdict overturning his attempt to block the no-confidence vote.
PM #ImranKhan's last TV speech in office is intense & impressive public relations exercise to dilute the most democratic attempt in #Pakistan's modern history to remove a govt from office. The is the jist of the speech.
#Pakistan's largest business & trade association rejects #PTIGovernment's policy of targeting the country's trade interests with key partners in the West, and supports Army Chief's policy statement on relations with the #US and the #EU. /1
Federation of #Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry @FPCCI1, in a statement by its president Irfan Iqbal Sheikh, expresses strong support for 🇵🇰's ties with the #US 🇺🇸 and the #EU 🇪🇺. Sheikh says the business community stands with the State. /2
Irfan Iqbal Sheikh, President @FPCCI, says #Pakistan's largest trading partners are #EU & #UK with exports at approximately $15.8 billion per year and the #US at $6.5 billion. "We greatly value these partners," he said. /3
#Iran becomes the only foreign government so far to come out to openly endorse Prime Minister #ImranKhan's claim about a #US conspiracy to topple him. Tehran's state-run channel suggests that #Pakistan's opposition parties are executing American agenda:
Three weeks ago, #Nasrallah the chief of #Iran's main militant group #Hezbollah, globally designated as a terrorist organization, praised PM #ImranKhan in a TV speech. Pakistani @ARYNEWSOFFICIAL broadcast clips from militant chief's speech.
Ex #US Special Rep for #Afghanistan Reconciliation @ZalmayKhalilz met #Pakistan Army #COAS Gen #QamarBajwa today and "pledged to play his role for further improvement in 🇺🇸 diplomatic coop with 🇵🇰 at all levels," acc to a military statement. Khalilzad is attending @IsbDialogue.
"Sadly, #Russia's invasion of #Ukraine is unfortunate" and 🇵🇰 "shares a long and strategic relationship with 🇺🇸 which remains our largest export market."
A day earlier, PM #ImranKhan at @IsbDialogue advised #Pakistan to consider following the example of sanctions-hit #Cuba, addressing Islamabad's policy elite, taking his ideological aversion of the West to a new level:
PM #ImranKhan sets the stage for his legacy in a huge, impressive rally in #Islamabad, characterizing himself as a living martyr facing off international conspiracy to unseat him. He did not offer evidence but waved a document as proof. The rally achieves its two targets.. /1
PM #ImranKhan achieves two targets: to try impress power centers within the country that he remains popular, which he partially does (with diehard voters); and to engage those voters in a larger foreign policy issue beyond electoral accountability of performance & governance. /2
Aside from the secret document that PM #ImranKhan is not revealing (yet) to protect national interest, it is not a secret that his biggest foreign policy confrontations occurred with the #KSA#UAE#France, and misunderstandings with #China. /3
Prime Minister #ImranKhan of #Pakistan spent the afternoon and evening "in a good mood," according to a #PTI lawmaker and a close aide to PM, after the opposition submitted a request to call for a no-confidence vote as his Govt wobbles under economic & political pressures. /1
PM @ImranKhanPTI's #PTI-led Govt faces more uncertainty from within his party than from opponents in the Parliament, where he remains strong. His backing for #Punjab CM @UsmanAKBuzdar has become a controversial position within the party that could exacerbate fissures. /2
While the #PPP and the #PDM mount a strong parliamentary pressure to unseat PM #ImranKhan, internal #PTI fissures remain their strongest ally. These internal divisions could turn into a call for in-house change if party leadership is not careful. /3