Pakistan’s government stressed Monday that former Prime Minister Imran Jan will have to answer for his change of heart over his allegations of a U.S.-led «conspiracy» behind the no-confidence motion that removed him from power, after he said in an interview that he no longer «blames» Washington.
Jan maintained in an interview to the ‘Financial Times’ newspaper that he no longer «blames» the US administration for the no-confidence motion, after months of accusing the US for his exit from power, and stressed that he wants a «dignified» relationship between Washington and Islamabad.
In response, Pakistan’s Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb has stressed that Jan «will have to give an answer for a narrative on the basis of which lies and chaos were spread in the country.» «It is a question mark for all those who believed in what Imran said,» she said.
Aurangzeb has accused the former prime minister of «playing with national interests» and stressed that Jan cannot put the accusations behind him by saying that «he has turned over a new leaf.» «After destroying the country with his lies, he is now telling everyone to forget his narrative about the US conspiracy,» he has lamented.
Therefore, he has stated that «Imran played a dirty game are national interests because of his lust for power.» «After teaching lies to the nation, he now says that the US conspiracy is over,» he has settled in a series of messages posted on his account on the social network Twitter.
Jan, who in the weeks before and after the no-confidence motion against him accused the U.S. of leading a plot to remove him from power, has made several calls for demonstrations to demand early elections. During one such protest, he survived an assassination attempt after being shot several times in the leg.
The leader of the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) party, who in April became the first Pakistani leader to be ousted in a no-confidence motion, was disqualified in late October by the election commission for failing to declare money from the sale of gifts and presents received from international leaders when he was head of government.
His departure from office was followed by a growing political tension marked by scandals of transfuguism and massive protests in favor and against the Prime Minister, denounced by the opposition alliance of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) as a «puppet» of the Army. The Armed Forces are considered to be the most powerful force in Pakistan since its independence from the British Raj in 1947.
