Imran Khan to address nation amid no-confidence debate in Assembly

|HT|

Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan will address the nation tonight, his information and broadcasting minister Fawad Chaudhry tweeted. The address comes on a day when Pakistan Assembly debate on no-confidence motion against his government begins. This comes a day after Khan deferred his televised speech after being reportedly advised to do so by Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa. The Pakistan prime minister will be delivering his nation address after he chairs a national security council meet. The meeting will be attended by the civilian and military leadership where a ‘letter proof’ on the foreign conspiracy to topple the government will be shared with those present at the huddle. The National Security Meeting comes a day after the prime minister in a hurriedly called cabinet meeting shared the letter with his ministers. The ministers from Balochistan Awami Party and the MQM-P were not present as they have already joined the opposition ranks. Khan later shared the contents of the letter with senior journalists of the country. On Thursday, the United States dismissed allegation that it is trying to topple the Imran Khan government as it was miffed with the Pakistani prime minister's visit to Russia. According to Pak daily Dawn, the US State Department said none of its agencies or officials sent any letter to Pakistan on the political situation in the country.

Imran Khan's address to the nation comes amid the Pakistan National Assembly commencing the debate on the no-confidence motion against his government. The 69-year-old politician's government is in minority after key ally Muttahida Qaumi Movement (Pakistan) with seven members crossed over to the opposition. In the 342-member Assembly, the opposition has 177 members against the majority mark of 172. In the history of Pakistan, no prime minister has completed a full five-year term and has also not been ousted through a no-confidence vote. Imran Khan is the third prime minister after Benazir Bhutto and Shaukat Aziz to face a no-trust vote.

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