Imran Khan Calls Out US as His Party Decimates PM Shehbaz's PML-N in Punjab Province

Imran Khan was ousted from the Prime Minister's post in April through No-Confidence Vote in the Parliament brought up by the joint opposition over the issue of economic mismanagement. Khan accused Washington of planning a political coup against his government.

Calling for immediate General Elections, Imran Khan has described his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party 's stunning victory in Punjab province as an outright rejection of foreign power interfering in Pakistan's democratic government.

PTI seized control of the Punjab provincial assembly after winning 15 out of 20 seats in the by-elections held in Punjab, the country's most populous province. Its results hold significance since Punjab is known as a stronghold of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League (N).

"With this historic win you have told the world we are a self-respecting nation. Now whatever the Pakistani people decide, will happen. No foreign power has the right to decide our fate," a message from the PTI's official Twitter account read.

PTI believes the Biden administration conspired to oust Imran Khan in April, an allegation Washington labeled as "disturbing".

"It's very disturbing. There's absolutely no truth in those allegations. We support a strong, democratic setup in Pakistan. We have no interests in its domestic politics," Neil W. Hop, a US State Department official, said on Sunday.

Khan had accused Donald Lu, US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, of conveying Pakistan's envoy in Washington on March 7 to remove his government.

"He (Lu) tells our ambassador in an official meeting in Washington that unless you get rid of Prime Minister Imran Khan in a vote of no-confidence, which hadn't been tabled as yet but he seems to know about it, Pakistan will suffer consequences," Khan had said in an interview with CNN in May.

In the same interview, the PTI chairman further questioned the intentions of the US embassy officials meeting PTI's dissident members of the National Assembly in Islamabad. He blamed Washington for funding opposition to buying PTI's dissidents to vote against his government.

Shehbaz Sharif, with the support of one-time arch-rival Pakistan Peoples Party, formed the government. The current tenure of Pakistan's National Assembly will end in October 2023.

However, Imran Khan reiterated on several occasions that the U.S. had imposed the current government on Pakistanis, and courts and other establishments should ensure justice and hold elections in the country's interest.

Khan has been campaigning for holding an earlier poll since being ousted from power, suggesting that "any other way" will only exacerbate political uncertainty and economic crisis in the country.

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