https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/31/imran-khan-address-pakistan-faces-no-confidence-vote
Imran Khan, the Pakistan Prime Minister, has claimed that a foreign country wants his removal from the position of Prime Minister. Khan’s time as PM has resulted in unhappiness from the opposing party, who claims that he holds policy of bad governance and economic incompetence, and in the upcoming days it is expected that an election will be held (and Khan will be removed from office). In an act of seemingly desperation, Khan claimed that the United States threatened his position in office. However, the ‘threat’ in question is said to be a “diplomatic assessment from Pakistan’s US ambassador”, rather than a threat via the US government. When Khan described the letter, he claimed he read that the US would ‘forgive’ Pakistan if Khan was removed in the no-confidence vote, but if he wasn’t, there would be severe consequences for Pakistan. It is not expected that Khan will back down on his own accord from this fight- instead, that he will continue to paint his opposition as traitors, enemies, and bullies until the very last moment of his time in parliament.
Given that several members of Khan’s coalition have already abandoned him, giving the opposition the majority vote, it seems likely that Imran Khan will be voted out of office in the near future. However, Khan has the power to dissolve parliament when he sees fit, and he has executed this power this very Sunday to declare the National Assembly dissolved. Additionally, he may begin painting members of the opposition as traitors and allies of the US and absolve their ability to vote on his position- as a way to balance out parliament and the votes. Although Khan’s moves have so far succeeded in abstaining any form of movement against him, it’s my opinion that he’s beginning to bite his own bullet. Imran Khan is standing in quicksand, and the more he thrashes, the deeper he goes. By that I mean, the more that Khan resists this motion, and even tries to restrict the movements of his opposition, the less support he garners from his own allies and the more backlash he acquires from those against him.
In terms of the US, I don’t believe that further diplomacy towards Imran Khan will do much good. Imran Khan has already lost the public opinion of most of his people, by appearing less and less in control of the situation. By going hands off and avoiding further assessment of Pakistan, the US avoids the possibility for Khan to continue twisting their words to his advantage in Parliament. However, I also think that Khan’s initial argument of US compellence towards his policy and the state of the country was helpful to furthering the argument that he is unfit to be PM.