Pakistan: I accept the Supreme Court verdict, albeit with a heavy heart, PM Imran Khan says

PM appeals to nation in his address to resist 'foreign attempt to topple the government'

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Published: Fri 8 Apr 2022, 8:52 PM

Last updated: Fri 8 Apr 2022, 9:24 PM

Embattled Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday accepted a Supreme Court verdict reinstating the dissolved National Assembly "albeit with a heavy heart".

The Supreme Court had a day earlier ruled he acted unconstitutionally in blocking an opposition attempt to oust him.


Addressing the nation, Khan said he was disappointed by the court verdict. "We had expected suo moto action by Supreme Court into horse trading of politicians and parliamentarians," he said.

He appealed to the country to resist any foreign attempt to topple a democratically elected government. "You risk your future if you do not protest against foreign attempts to topple the government."


"The principles that I have adhered to ever since floating the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf 26 years back have not changed," Khan said.

"There was foreign interference in Pakistan's no-confidence. I wanted the SC to at least have looked at it, it was a very serious allegation that a foreign country wants to topple the government through a conspiracy."

The premier said he was at least expecting a probe by the SC. "The SC could have at least asked for and looked at the document to gauge whether we're speaking the truth. I was a bit disappointed because this is a very big issue and there was no discussion on it in the SC."

"Our US envoy met with some American officials. They objected to my Russia trip. This was all before the no-confidence motion was tabled. They said if Imran Khan government survives, Pakistan will face consequences. But if he loses, Pakistan will be forgiven. This means they knew the scripts well enough beforehand."

Khan said the West likes those in power in Pakistan who dance to their tunes. "But I would not allow an attack on our sovereignty."

He said he would not sacrifice his own people for the sake of another country. "Once Russians left Afghanistan, Pakistan came under sanctions within two years. Our sacrifices were not even acknowledged," he reasoned.

He pointed to case of India which he said "cannot be dictated to by any superpower."

Khan said the opposition, which is steeped in corruption, wants to see him out of power to bury cases against them. He added that the opposition is against using electronic voting machines because they will not win a fair election.

Khan called for massive protests on Sunday evening against the opposition campaign to oust him.


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