Imran Khan, who was ousted as Pakistan’s prime minister (PM) on Saturday, April 9, had threatened to impose martial law rather than facing the no-trust motion and handing over the power to the Opposition, reports The Guardian.
The news outlet writes, “On Friday, a senior minister from his ruling government sent a message to an Opposition leader that read: “Martial law or elections – your choice.”
“It appeared to threaten the Opposition with the ultimatum that they should agree to Khan’s demand for fresh elections or he would bring in Pakistan’s powerful military to take control, as has happened repeatedly in the country’s history,” writes The Guardian.
“Imran Khan believed it should be him or no one,” says the news report, attributing, to one figure from the Opposition who said he had refused the demand.
The news report also states that the premier had attempted to sack Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa in order to provoke the military into taking control and imposing martial law.
“Imran Khan wanted to sack the army chief, but the forces received information about it and they thwarted his plan after they came to know about it,” said a security official on condition of anonymity. “Khan wanted to create a huge crisis to remain in power,” writes The Guardian.
There were also reports that the COAS and the former PM had 45 minutes meeting in Prime Minister House. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) has dismissed BBC Urdu’s story that claims that Khan was pushing for the removal of COAS.
The Opposition’s no-confidence motion against former Prime Minister Imran Khan succeeded on Sunday with 174 members voted in favour of the motion. The magic number to oust Khan was ‘172’. The National Assembly debated on the matter for more than 12 hours and the political situation in the country took a critical turn.
Later, PM Khan was voted out as Prime Minister of Pakistan a little after midnight with 174 votes.
