Pakistan’s PM Khan Calls For Fresh Elections

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan called Sunday for the president to dissolve parliament and hold a fresh election, minutes after the national assembly deputy speaker declined to hear a no-confidence motion into his rule.

In an address on state TV, Khan said there had been unacceptable interference in Pakistan’s democratic institutions, and an interim government should be formed to hold fresh elections.

No premier of Pakistan has ever completed a full term, and Khan has been facing the biggest challenge to his rule since being elected in 2018, with opponents accusing him of economic mismanagement and bungling foreign policy.

On Sunday parliament was due to debate a no-confidence motion on Khan, but the deputy speaker refused to accept it, causing uproar in the chamber.

Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party (PTI) effectively lost its majority in the 342-member assembly last week when a coalition partner said its seven lawmakers would vote with the opposition.

More than a dozen PTI lawmakers had also indicated they would cross the floor.

Khan has accused the opposition of conspiring with “foreign powers” to remove him because he won’t take the West’s side on global issues against Russia and China.

Earlier this week he accused the United States of meddling in Pakistan’s affairs.

Local media had reported that Khan had received a briefing letter from Islamabad’s ambassador to Washington recording a senior US official saying they felt relations would be better if Khan left office.