Pak. PM Imran Khan seeks fresh poll amid move to oust him

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan has recommended the president to dissolve the parliament and call fresh elections following an opposition attempt to oust him from power. It follows chaos in parliament over a no-confidence motion against him. Parliament’s deputy speaker refused to hold a vote on the motion which the PM was surre to lose. Khan has alleged that the attempt against him is part of an international conspiracy orchestrated by the US. The BBC’s Secunder Kermani says the prime minister is widely regarded as having come to power with the help of Pakistan’s army, but now observers say they have fallen out. His political opponents seized the opportunity, after persuading a number of his coalition partners to defect to them.

Khan accuses US officials of having warned Pakistani diplomats that the prime minister must be removed from power because of his foreign policy decisions, such as recently paying visit to Moscow to meet President Vladimir Putin and his previous criticism of America’s “War on Terror”. Opposition politicians ridicule the allegation, and the US has denied the charges.