The much- awaited address to the nation by the Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has been cancelled. It was slated for Wednesday night but without giving any reason, Khan’s ruling party senator Faisal Javed Khan announced that the Prime Minister has "postponed" his address to the nation.
Interestingly, this announcement was made immediately after the Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa and ISI chief Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum met Khan at his residence. What the big boys of the Pakistani establishment told the mercurial Khan is not in the public domain. At any rate this visit, when Pakistan was on edge, was miles away from a routine courtesy call.
Earlier today, Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid had told the media that Imran Khan will address the nation after the ruling ally MQM-P struck a deal with the combined opposition and withdrew two of its ministers from the cabinet.
Reports of COAS meeting Imran Khan twice in a span of hours, the cancelling of PM’s address re lettergate… the more things change the more they stay the same
— Atika Rehman (@AtikaRehman) March 30, 2022
Khan’s ministers also claimed that he is not going to resign, even though his ruling party is in minority and will play to win till the “last ball” of the over.
Though there are no details about Imran Khan and Bajwa’s meeting, speculation is rife that the meeting was all about the impending no-confidence vote that Imran Khan is trying to thwart using “illegal” means, now that his government is in minority after losing support of coalition partners and his own members.
This was the third meeting between the two after Khan had hit back at Gen. Bajwa by mocking his so called “political neutrality”. In a recent s and in a shocking outburst, Khan taunted Bajwa by saying that "only animals remain neutral."
Nevertheless, there are reports that Imran Khan was “advised” by the Army Chief and Lt. Gen. Anjum to step down after the OIC meeting without further escalating the matter.
Also Read: Game over for Imran Khan as key ally ditches ruling coalition
