WASHINGTON/ISLAMABAD: The US has bluntly rejected Pakistan's embattled Prime Minister Imran Khan's latest allegations of a "foreign conspiracy" plotted in Washington to overthrow his government with the help of the Opposition parties, saying there is "absolutely no truth" to these claims.
Khan has been claiming that the Opposition's no-confidence motion against him was the result of a "foreign conspiracy" because of his independent foreign policy and funds were being channelled from abroad to oust him from power.
In an address to the nation on Friday, the 69-year-old prime minister reiterated his allegations that a senior US diplomat threatened regime change in Pakistan.
Khan has alleged that Donald Lu, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs in the Department of State was involved in the 'foreign conspiracy' to topple his government.
Responding to a question on Khan's renewed allegations of the US encouraging the no-confidence vote against his government, deputy state department spokesperson Jalina Porter in a press conference on Friday said, "Let me just say very bluntly there is absolutely no truth to these allegations."
"Of course, we continue to follow these developments, and we respect and support Pakistan's constitutional process and rule of law. But again, these allegations are absolutely not true," she said.
Friday's rebuttal was the third time the US State Department has publicly commented on Khan's allegations.
Previously, Pakistan's Dawn newspaper reported that the State Department had dismissed the allegation when it initially broke in late March.
On March 31, State Department Spokesman Ned Price said, "We are closely following developments in Pakistan, and we respect, we support Pakistan's constitutional process and the rule of law. But when it comes to those allegations, there is no truth to them."
Prime Minister Khan in a public rally in Islamabad on March 27 first disclosed about a "letter" and claimed that it contained a threat to the Pakistan government from the US.
On the basis of the letter and the alleged conspiracy plot, National Assembly Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri had dismissed the Opposition's no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Khan on April 3.
The deputy speaker's ruling was struck down by the Supreme Court on Thursday.
On Saturday, Pakistan's Parliament started its crucial session to take up the no-confidence resolution against the defiant prime minister.
Earlier this month also, the US had denied reports of any "threat letter" sent to Pakistan on the current political situation in the country.
Last week, some Pakistani media outlets reported that the powerful Army has also contradicted Prime Minister Khan's remarks accusing America of hatching a conspiracy to topple his government, saying there was no evidence of interference in the country's internal matters.
Pakistan Parliament's crucial session to take up a no-confidence motion against defiant Prime Minister Imran Khan resumed after a long adjournment on Saturday and voting on the motion is expected to take place in the evening after a discussion on the so-called "foreign conspiracy" against his government.
In line with a landmark Supreme Court order, the National Assembly's session began at 10:30 am (11:00 IST).
Speaker Asad Qaiser chaired the session.
Taking the floor, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif hailed Thursday as a historic day in Pakistan's history when the Supreme Court rejected the deputy speaker's ruling and said that the apex court's decision had made the country's future "bright".
He called on Speaker Qaiser to conduct proceedings in accordance with the court's directives, stating that Parliament would be writing history today.
"Today, Parliament is going to defeat a 'selected prime minister' in a constitutional manner," he said.
Shehbaz told the Speaker to let bygones be bygones and to stand for the law and the Constitution, urging him to play his role and to have his name "written in history in golden words".
"You must cash in on this moment with conviction and with your heart and your mind. Don't go on the dictation of the selected prime minister," he said.
Responding to Shehbaz, the Speaker assured him that he would conduct proceedings according to the law and the Constitution.
"(But) the important thing is that there has been talk of an international conspiracy. This should also be discussed," he said, as the hall echoed with protests from the Opposition benches. This prompted Shehbaz to tell Qaiser that he would be violating the court's directives if he went down that road. He also read out the apex court's directives regarding the convening of the session.
"Under the court's directives, you are bound to take up this agenda item and no other item. That is the intent of the order and you cannot deviate from it," he said, calling on the Speaker to hold voting on the motion forthwith.
"The Supreme Court's orders will be followed in true letter and spirit," Qaiser replied, giving the floor to Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.
Qureshi said that the Opposition had the right to table a no-trust motion against the prime minister, but asserted that defending it was his obligation.
"We intend to fight it in a constitutional, political and democratic manner," the close aide of Khan, asserted.
Talking about constitutional violations, he said that it was obligatory "on us to respect the Constitution".
"As the prime minister said yesterday, he is disappointed but has accepted the court's decision," Qureshi said, referring to Khan's address to the nation on Friday.
Speaker Qaisar adjourned the session until 12.30 PM (13:00 IST) after slight disturbance between the treasury and opposition benches.
The session, however, resumed after more than three-and-a-half hours of break.
Foreign Minister Qureshi, who was speaking when the session was interrupted, continued his address after the break.
Sources told Geo News that the session had been deliberately delayed and the PTI ministers would try to make their speeches lengthier.
PML-N's Khawaja Saad Rafique, speaking in the NA after the adjournment, said that the speaker had promised that voting would be held after Iftar.
A delegation of the Opposition leaders met with National Assembly Speaker Qaiser in his chamber and demanded immediate voting on the no-confidence motion that could seal the fate of Khan.
The Opposition parties need 172 members in the 342-member house to orchestrate the downfall of Prime Minister Khan.
They have garnered the support of more than the needed strength with the help of some allies of the ruling coalition and rebels from Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.
Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari told the Speaker that he was violating the Constitution and the court's order.
"You cannot take up anything else except for what is on the agenda. Not only you, the speaker also did the same," he told him, demanding that voting is held on the no-confidence motion.
"If you don't come to today's agenda, then you should know that the opposition will not leave [] we will snatch our constitutional rights from you."
He said that the government had lost its majority in the assembly.
"We can debate on the foreign conspiracy for 100 days but first conduct voting."
PPP co-chair and former president Asif Ali Zardari also demanded voting on the motion.
Khan, who faces the possibility of being the first premier in the country's history to be voted out in a no-trust motion, in recent weeks has talked about a 'threat letter' and claimed that it was part of a foreign conspiracy to remove him as he was not acceptable for following an independent foreign policy.
In a landmark 5-0 verdict on Thursday, a five-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial ruled that NA deputy speaker Qasim Suri's ruling rejecting a no-confidence motion against Khan was "contrary to the Constitution.
No Pakistani prime minister has ever completed a full five-year term in office.
Meanwhile, the Opposition has completed its initial talks for the formation of a new government once Prime Minister Khan is ousted.
Shehbaz, 70, who is the Opposition's candidate for the new prime minister, will announce his possible government priorities after taking the oath.
The much-awaited voting on the no-confidence motion against embattled Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is expected to take place after Iftar, the meal eaten after sunset during Ramzan to break the day's fast, a lawmaker from the Opposition PML-N party said in Parliament on Saturday.
A crucial session of the National Assembly to decide the fate of Prime Minister Khan began on Saturday.
Shortly afterwards, however, Speaker Asad Qaiser decided to adjourn the session when Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif took the floor on point of order and made a small speech reminding the Speaker that he was bound to go ahead as per the apex court's order.
During his speech, the lawmakers of Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) kept interrupting by constantly speaking and kept calling him a "beggar", a tacit reference to his recent statement where he said, "beggars can't be choosers".
Speaking in the National Assembly session after the adjournment, Khawaja Saad Rafique of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) said the speaker had promised that the voting would be held after Iftar.
According to Geo News, the voting is expected to take place after 8 PM.
The session was originally adjourned till 12:30 pm, but was seemingly delayed as Opposition and government members held meetings.
Separately, the government has filed a review petition against the apex court's decision to set aside the deputy speaker's April 3 ruling, the Dawn newspaper reported.
In a landmark 5-0 verdict on Thursday, a five-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial ruled that NA deputy speaker Qasim Suri's ruling rejecting a no-confidence motion against Khan was "contrary to the Constitution".
The apex court also declared the advice by Prime Minister Khan to President Arif Alvi to dissolve the NA as "unconstitutional" and ordered the speaker of the lower house to call a session on Saturday to organise the no-confidence vote.