Won’t Quit, Says Pakistan PM Ahead Of No-Trust Vote

Pakistani PM Imran Khan, who is on a sticky wicket, addressed the nation live on national television on Thursday, saying “I would not resign but fight till the last ball just like I did when I played cricket for Pakistan”. The premier made it clear voting on the no-confidence motion tabled against him by the Opposition would be put to vote in the National Assembly on Sunday. “I want the entire nation to see on that day who sold their conscience. Looted money is being used to buy off people and this is happening before the entire nation. This is a transaction of their conscience, the country and its sovereignty,” he said in reference to horse trading ahead of the vote. Some of his party’s parliamentarians and the government’s allies have switched sides but Imran said he still has hope. The PM spoke about the threat letter that he claimed was evidence of a foreign conspiracy to oust him. And deliberately or otherwise, he named “United States” as the country that issued the so-called threat. “They knew beforehand that a no-trust move was coming. The no-trust motion was not even submitted. It means they (the opposition) were connected with these people abroad. They say they will forgive Pakistan if Imran Khan loses the no-trust vote but if the move fails, Pakistan will have to go through a difficult time.” He warned the “three stooges” (Shehbaz Sharif, Fazlur Rehman and Asif Ali Zardari) that “people will neither forget nor forgive you”.