Pak Prez Arif Alvi asks Chief Justice to probe "conspiracy" to remove Imran Khan from office

President Alvi in his letter to the Chief Justice urged him to constitute a judicial commission to investigate the regime change conspiracy, suggesting the commission should preferably be headed by Bandial and must conduct open hearings to thoroughly probe the allegations of regime change conspiracy to avert a political and economic crisis in the country.


PTI | Islamabad | Updated: 12-05-2022 23:37 IST | Created: 12-05-2022 23:37 IST
Pak Prez Arif Alvi asks Chief Justice to probe "conspiracy" to remove Imran Khan from office
  • Country:
  • Pakistan

Pakistani President Arif Alvi on Thursday formally approached Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial to probe the alleged conspiracy to change the regime of former prime minister Imran Khan last month. Khan, ousted through a no-trust vote on April 10, has accused the US of orchestrating the fall of his government after his decision to follow an independent foreign policy over the issue of Ukraine.

Khan has been pressing the government to investigate the matter through the Supreme Court and about two weeks ago also wrote a letter to Chief Justice Bandial to set up a probe commission. President Alvi in his letter to the Chief Justice urged him to constitute a judicial commission to investigate the ''regime change conspiracy'', suggesting the commission should preferably be headed by Bandial and must conduct open hearings to ''thoroughly probe the allegations of regime change conspiracy to avert a political and economic crisis in the country''. Emphasising the importance of the commission, the president warned that a serious political crisis was looming in Pakistan, saying major polarisation was also taking place in politics as well as among the people of Pakistan. ''It is regrettable that random comments are being quoted out of context, misunderstandings are fuelling, opportunities are being lost, confusions not dying down, and with the economy also in crisis, while the situation on the ground is approaching a political powder keg that may ignite at any time,'' he said in the letter. Alvi pointed out that the Supreme Court had taken such initiatives in the past to constitute judicial commissions in matters of national security, integrity, sovereignty and public interest. "A judicial commission, headed by [former] chief justice Nasir ul Mulk and two judges of the top court, inquired into rigging allegations in 2013 elections. Similarly, judicial commissions were also formed to investigate the Memogate matter, and moreover, a judicial commission is also currently functional for missing persons, that is headed by a sitting judge", he observed. Alvi requested that the proposed judicial commission should conduct an in-depth and thorough investigation into the regime change conspiracy. The conspiracy controversy began to unfold in the wake of the no-confidence motion launched on May 8 against Imran Khan. Khan for the first time waved a document at a rally on March 27, saying that it was proof of foreign intervention. Later he said that the US was involved in it as Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Affairs Donald Lu in a meeting with Pakistan's Ambassador to the US, Asad Majeed threatened to change the government. Majeed then purportedly sent a cable to inform the foreign office about the conversation with Lu. The US State Department and the Pentagon have repeatedly rejected the accusations, saying there was no veracity to it, while the National Security Committee (NSC) of Pakistan also rejected the element of conspiracy to dislodge the government. However, Khan has refused to accept it and has been pressing with the claim at his public rallies.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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