LAHORE -UNS: As April 9-10 marks one year since former prime minister Imran Khan was ousted through a vote of no confidence (VONC) moved by the then-opposition, PTI leaders termed the occasion a “black day”, while figures linked to the government celebrated “toppling the one-page regime”.
On Feb 11, 2022, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) — the incumbent coalition government comprising the PPP, PML-N and the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) — announced moving a no-confidence motion against Imran, which it succeeded in by securing lawmakers from the PTI on their side.
In a National Assembly session that went on for more than 12 hours, the PTI chief’s prime ministerial term came to an end as the opposition’s no-trust motion against him succeeded an hour past midnight on April 10, with 174 members out of the 342 voting in its favour.
Becoming the first premier in Pakistan’s history to be ousted through a VONC, Imran alleged he was ousted through a foreign conspiracy — a claim he has later retracted by saying he “no longer blamed” the United States for it.
The PTI chairman has since launched his “Haqeeqi Azaadi” (real freedom) movement against the coalition government — what he calls a “jihad” against injustice.
In a video address marking one year since his ouster, Imran told his party workers and supporters to be prepared for every kind of scenario and vowed to throng the streets if the government attempted to “run away” from the elections by “dividing the judiciary”.
“We will monitor how things go over the next few days and act accordingly,” he said.
Imran lambasted the federal cabinet for conniving to devise a plan that would create disagreements and division between the Supreme Court judges. Hinting towards the “London Plan”, the former premier accused some people of making decisions behind closed doors, leading the country to the state it was currently in.
Imran said the incumbent government had not yet faced a challenge similar to the havoc wreaked by the coronavirus during his tenure.
“I’m just thinking what if this government had encountered this challenge,” he added. “They would have rushed to lock the entire country down without thinking of the suffering inflicted on the lower class.”
Talking about the downward spiralling economy, the PTI chief highlighted how the value of the rupee had fallen by more than Rs100 since the ouster of his government. “The value of money belonging to the people hiding in London has increased more by Rs100 because their wealth is stashed abroad in dollars,” Imran said.
He said since exports had fallen 10 per cent, more problems will be encountered regarding the supply of the US dollar. “We are taking loans and our debts are rising. Then we have to repay those loans in dollars.”
Imran also shed light on how well the issue of terrorism was handled during the PTI government’s tenure, saying that airlines such as British Airways had resumed their operations and tourism was on the rise.
He said the parliament had become defunct because it was essential for an opposition to be present there for it to function. “Institutions have been destroyed,” Imran added.
“Caretaker governments were formed to be neutral so that they can hold neutral elections but look how they are cracking down on us.”
