Saddened by court decision, wish it had probed 'conspiracy' angle: Imran

Islamabad, April 8 (IANS) Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, who will face a no-confidence vote in the resurrected National Assembly on Saturday as per the Supreme Court verdict, said on Friday that he was "saddened" by the ruling but would respect it.

In an address to the nation, Khan, however, rued that the top court did not consider the "foreign conspiracy" angle in its Thursday verdict and should have at least initiated a probe.

"I respect the Supreme Court and the judiciary, but the apex court should have looked at the threat letter before issuing the verdict," Khan said, complaining that it did not take the matter of the "threat letter" seriously, Geo News reported.

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

"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."

Citing his arrest under a previous regime, Khan said that he strongly believes that the judiciary is the guardian of justice in the country, but added that he was disappointed by the court's stand on the Constitution's Article 63 (A) regarding horse-trading.

"The youth of Pakistan is our future and if they see leaders selling their conscience, what precedent are we setting for them," he asked.

Even the MNAs who came on reserved seats were tainted by the malaise of horse-trading, he added.

About the threat letter, he said that it could not be shared publicly as it is in code and if these codes are revealed, "all secret information of Pakistan will be unveiled".

Khan also said that in the meeting of the Pakistani Ambassador to the US with a top US official, the latter had castigated his visit to Russia.

He claimed that even before the no-confidence motion was filed against him, the US official had warned the Pakistani Ambassador that if Imran Khan manages to save himself, Pakistan will have to face "severe consequences", adding that the US seemed to know the opposition's plan in advance and also who would be the new PM.

He said that the Ambassador was told that if Imran Khan is ousted, Pakistan will be spared no matter who takes the charge, and alleged that PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif, "who apparently has prepared his sherwani for the oath-taking ceremony", was involved in this "foreign conspiracy".

On Thursday, the Supreme Court of Pakistan declared "unconstitutional" NA Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri's ruling scrapping the no-confidence motion and the government's subsequent move to dissolve the National Assembly.

It has ordered Assembly Speaker Asad Qasier to summon a session on Saturday and allow the vote on the no-confidence motion.

Earlier in the day, Khan chaired a Cabinet meeting, following which Minister for Information and Law, Fawad Chaudhry, said a commission will be formed that would probe the "threat letter" and present its report within 90 days after investigating how many dissident MNAs were in contact with "foreign powers".

He also said that the parliamentarians would be briefed regarding the details of the threat letter before the voting on the no-confidence motion.