Imran Khan sticks to 'foreign conspiracy' charge ahead of no-trust vote, says Pak citizens need to protect sovereignty

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A day ahead of the no-confidence motion against his government following Supreme Court orders, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday stuck to his "foreign conspiracy" allegation over efforts by the opposition to oust him from power and said people of the country need to "protect sovereignty and self-respect".

"There was an attempt to change the regime from the outside, they decided from the outside that we don't like him, so change him... Society has to protect... it is not about Imran Khan. If the society does not protect its sovereignty, then who will?" Imran Khan said in an interview with PTV.

Imran Khan made a heavy Islamist pitch throughout the interview drawing several references from the life of Prophet Mohammad and the Quran, while also talking about the need to inculcate values in the younger generation.

Khan said that the "corrupt" opposition politicians destroyed the difference between "good" and "bad" in Pakistan.

"Our problem is that these corrupt people, by ruling this country, again and again, with an entire set-up colluding with them, the entire mafia colluding with them, even people in the media... they destroyed the difference between good and bad. If you want to destroy a society, destroy the difference between good and bad," Imran Khan said.

"We have leaders who say beggars are not choosers," Imran Khan said referring to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Shehbaz Sharif chief who is the opposition candidate to replace Imran Khan if the no-trust vote succeeds.

"We are poor, so we are slaves... Does that mean we will remain slaves forever? They say America has kept us on life support machine... When you have leaders like that, they destroy the potential of society," Khan further said attacking Shehbaz Sharif.

Imran Khan government suffered a setback on Thursday as Pakistan Supreme Court set aside the ruling of the Deputy Speaker in which he had rejected the no-confidence motion brough by the opposition.

The court set aside the dissolution of the Pakistan National Assembly and all the subsequent decisions taken. It gave directions for holding a sitting of the National Assembly "not later than 10:30 am on April 9" for the no-trust vote.

Reinstating the National Assembly, the court also declared that the Prime Minister and federal ministers, ministers of state, advisers, etc, stand restored to their respective offices as on April 3.

The top court further ruled that the National Assembly session on the no-confidence motion must be held on Saturday and must not be adjourned until a vote on the motion.

During the interview, Khan made no references to the Supreme Court verdict.

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