After ZAB, PM Imran Khan names global plot to topple him

LAHORE: Recently, the incumbent Prime Minister Imran Khan, recently facing no-trust motion, was heard echoing his narrative of an international conspiracy aimed at toppling his regime.

In the country’s history, former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had also accused foreign powers of hatching plots against his government. Bhutto had written a book namely “If I Am Assassinated,” in which, he had claimed that a “foreign power” was bent on overthrowing his government. Bhutto, in his book, had termed that the generals had begun to make their moves long before they had struck in July 1977. He revealed in his biography that their plotting had begun before the elections in March 1977 and the coup matured slowly as the result of a deal between the army and the PNA, a nine-party alliance, along with a “foreign power.”

The then PM Bhutto had divulged that the deal at “foreign” level was that the PNA would receive Rs300 million for winning the elections, and if it failed, the establishment would be supported in a bid for a coup. He kept saying, in return, the new rulers of Pakistan would drop the nuclear reprocessing plant that he had negotiated with France. Recently, just days after Nawaz Sharif was ousted by the Supreme Court, Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman had stated on August 4, 2017 that Pakistan had become a victim of the ‘Panama Papers’ conspiracy hatched by the United States as no one could do corruption without the support of the establishment.

He further said, “This all (Panamagate) did not unfold automatically. It was hatched at the international level in a bid to strip each other. Although, all the hue and cry in this context is ostensibly an internal matter, it actually is an external conspiracy. But our focus should be on how to rescue the country from the crisis. The foreign powers are eyeing the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). If you will become a ladder for China’s development, you are surely going to be a victim of conspiracies, saying America is involved in conspiracies not only in this region but all over the world.” He had reiterated his stance on November 24, 2017, asserting “Panama Leaks” was an international conspiracy, while defending former prime minister Nawaz Sharif. Talking to his supporters in Mardan, the religious cleric-cum-politician had alleged that international powers wanted to destabilise the country.