Only a resignation is an 'honourable exit': Opposition ups the ante against PM Imran Khan

Lahore, Apr 1 (PTI) Pakistan's opposition parties on Thursday upped their ante against embattled Prime Minister Imran Khan, asserting that only a resignation is an “honourable exit” for him.

A defiant Khan said on Thursday that he will not resign despite losing the majority and insisted that he will "fight till the last ball" and face the vote of no-confidence in the National Assembly on Sunday which will decide where the country will go.

Pakistan Peoples' Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that there is no safe passage for Imran Khan now.

"Only Imran's resignation is the honourable exit for him. I suggest him do so." He said that Imran's attempt to polarise and scandalise the national security forums and institutions is outrageous.

"Our information is that one of the ministers got this so-called 'threat' letter written and posted to him. Then that minister showed this letter to Imran Khan. Imran waved this letter in a public gathering and tried to use it in his favour to run away from the constitutional process. Imran is trying to pressurise and make the institutions disputed,” he added.

Khan's address on Thursday came at a critical juncture of his political career when he lost majority after defection from his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.

Two of his allied parties also withdrew their support and joined the ranks of the Opposition.

"Honestly this man (Imran) is on a rampage. He has to be gagged or muzzled before he makes a joke out of the country," opposition Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) vice-president Maryam Nawaz said in a tweet in reaction to Imran Khan's live address to the nation on Thursday.

"This man is consistently proving that he does not deserve this highest office. Instead of crying before everyone he should muster some courage and resign if some grace is left in him,” she added.

The resolution against the embattled premier was tabled by the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif on March 28.

Khan needs 172 votes in the lower house of 342 to foil the Opposition's bid to topple him.

However, the Opposition claims it has the support of 175 lawmakers and the prime minister should immediately resign.

In a live address to the nation, 69-year-old Khan also discussed a 'threat letter' and termed it as part of a foreign conspiracy to remove him as he was not acceptable for following an independent foreign policy. He named the US as the country behind the threat letter in what appeared to be a slip of tongue.

Sharif pointed out that to this day Khan has not shown the letter to the parliament and the people, and was only sharing select contents of the document and his perception of them. “Not showing the letter means there is no letter, Imran Niazi is once again telling a new lie as he usually does,” he pointed out.

No Pakistani prime minister has ever completed a full five-year term in office.

Also, no prime minister in Pakistan's history has ever been ousted through a no-confidence motion, and Khan is the third premier to face the challenge.