Imran Khan, who was ousted as Pakistan’s prime minister on Saturday, has threatened to impose martial law instead of handing over power to the opposition, according to documents seen by the Guardian.
According to security officials and opposition officials, he tried several times to retain power in the days and hours before the no-confidence vote. However, he failed to stop this and in the last minutes before midnight on Saturday he was removed from office.
Khan initially tried to halt the vote, which was due to be heard for the first time in the National Assembly last weekend, by dissolving parliament and calling for new elections, saying the vote was part of a “foreign conspiracy” to oust him.
But the maneuver was thwarted by the Supreme Court, which declared Khan’s actions a violation of the constitution and ordered a vote on Saturday.
On Friday, a top minister from his governing government sent a message to an opposition leader stating, “Martial law or elections are your choice.”
He appears to be threatening the opposition with an ultimatum that they must agree to Khan’s demand for new elections or that he will attract Pakistan’s powerful army to take control, as has happened many times in the country’s history.
An opposition figure said she had refused the request. “Imran Khan believed it had to be him or no one,” they said.
According to security officials, on the day of the no-confidence vote, which Khan’s party delayed by 14 hours, the prime minister tried to fire the army chief to provoke the military to take control and impose martial law.
“Imran Khan wanted to fire the army chief, but the forces received information about it and thwarted his plan when they found out about it,” said a security official who requested anonymity. “Khan wanted to create a huge crisis in order to stay in power.”
Khan’s ministers also appear to be preparing the scene for military intervention. “If martial law is imposed in the country, opposition parties will be held accountable for their involvement in buying and selling votes,” Favad Chodri, then information minister, told reporters on Saturday.
As the no-confidence vote continued to be hampered and delayed by Assad Qaysar, the chamber’s chairman and close ally of Khan, who reportedly acted on his direct instructions, opposition leader Bilawal Bhutto Zardari told parliament: “Imran Khan wants the army to got involved.
The Supreme Court judge also took unprecedented steps, instructing the Supreme Court to open its doors at midnight to act in case Khan tries to obstruct the legal mandate to vote.
Allegations that Khan is trying to “remove the chief of staff of the army to support political interests” were also mentioned in a legal petition submitted to the Supreme Court of Islamabad by lawyer Adnan Iqbal on Saturday night.
Although Khan’s rise to power appears to have been backed by Pakistan’s powerful armed forces, there have been growing differences in recent months between him and the military over the appointment of a senior military official.
The friction between Khan and the military appears to have peaked on Saturday night. Khan met with General Kamar Javed Bajva, the army’s chief of staff, that evening after trying to remove him earlier in the day, according to Reuters. Local media reported that Bajva had told Khan to accept his fate and stop interfering in the vote.
Finally, after the speaker dramatically resigned and just minutes before midnight, the vote took place in the National Assembly. Khan, who no longer held a parliamentary majority, lost 174 votes, making him Pakistan’s first prime minister removed by a no-confidence vote.
The military, which has long refused to interfere in Pakistani politics, has denied any allegations of involvement in the vote, calling them “baseless rumors”. Chaudhry, Khan’s former information minister, also denied Khan’s attempts to usurp the vote.
“These false stories are being spread to mislead society and create anarchy in the country. All such malicious attempts will be defeated by the people of Pakistan, “said an official close to the army. “The Pakistani armed forces are the guarantor of peace in Pakistan and the enemy is trying to tarnish the image of the armed forces.
On Monday, Shabhaz Sharif, the leader of the opposition coalition and brother of imprisoned former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, will be sworn in as prime minister. He is expected to call elections in time, which are likely to take place after October.
In his first comments, after losing the vote, Khan reiterated his claim that he had been the victim of a conspiracy. “Pakistan became an independent state in 1947, but the struggle for freedom began again today against a foreign conspiracy to change the regime. “The people of the country are always defending their sovereignty and democracy,” he tweeted. on Sunday evening, huge crowds took to the streets of Islamabad and Karachi to protest Khan’s removal from power.
All members of Khan’s party, Pakistan’s Tehrik-e-Insaf, also announced on Sunday that they will leave the National Assembly en masse, a process that is likely to take several months.
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