Meddling from abroad draws ire in Pakistan

Officials cite interference behind political instability amid claims of 'regime change'

Amid heated political divisions in Pakistan, some officials are blaming foreign interference for the bout of political instability that has hit the country.

The Supreme Court of Pakistan held hearings from Monday to Thursday in an effort to arrive at decisions relating to the dissolution of the parliament, and the judges have been examining the issues scrupulously, according to Pakistani sources.

On Sunday, it was announced that Pakistan's National Assembly, the lower house of the parliament, would be dissolved, according to a statement from the president's secretariat. Earlier that day, Prime Minister Imran Khan, in a televised address to the nation, said he had sent advice to President Arif Alvi, and he called for an interim government to be formed before taking the country to fresh elections. The opposition challenged the constitutionality of the move in the nation's highest court.

In the lead-up to Khan's request, an alliance of major opposition parties sought to pass a no-confidence motion against the prime minister. The alliance claimed to have the backing of 177 members of the National Assembly for the motion, five votes more than the simple majority required to unseat Khan. The vote did not take place after the chamber's deputy speaker aired the allegations of foreign interference.

The opposition parties said that they had submitted the motion because they wanted to remove a government that they held responsible for high inflation and poor governance. However, foreign involvement was alleged as being a factor behind the moves against the government.

On March 27, Khan told a public gathering in the capital Islamabad that he had received a letter on March 7, the day before the filing of the motion in the National Assembly, from a Pakistani ambassador to a "powerful country" stating that the ambassador was informed about the motion even before it was moved. The letter warned of consequences if the country failed to remove Khan from power.

US Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu was cited by Pakistani media to be involved in the alleged conspiracy, according to The News website in Pakistan. The US has denied the claim.

A meeting of the National Security Committee on March 31 took notice of the apparent foreign attempt to topple the government and an official demarche was made through official channels to the US embassy in Pakistan. Pakistan's opposition camp has also denied the allegations of foreign interference.

According to the Arab News, the US State Department and the White House, on separate occasions on the same day, said there was "no truth "to allegations that the US had threatened Khan's government.

On April 2, Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari said Khan was targeted because he took a stand against the US and tried to make decisions on his own.

Wang Shida, deputy director of the Institute of South Asian Studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said diplomatic relations between Pakistan and the US have faced challenges.

In a public address on March 31, Khan blamed the US for not giving Pakistan its due credit as its ally in fighting terrorism. "No ally of the US suffered in the war against terror as Pakistan did," he said.

He said the people of Pakistan had suffered the most from the country's experience as an ally in the US-led war against terror after the Sept 11 attacks.

However, in spite of all the sacrifices, the US never showed appreciation to Pakistan. Instead, the nation suffered drone strikes in which even children from a seminary were killed, the prime minister said.

Imtiaz Gul, executive director of the Center for Research and Security Studies in Pakistan, said no country has the right to interfere directly or indirectly in the internal matters of another sovereign country, "more so attempts to change governments".

The analysts said the lack of political instability in Pakistan can harm the nation's economy. Gul notes that the country's instability has already hit the stock exchange and weakened the currency.

Xinhua contributed to this story.