Lieutenant General Tariq Khan (retd) Tariq Khan has refused to head the governments commission that was formed to probe the foreign conspiracy hatched to oust Prime Minister Imran Khan, several media outlets reported.
Lt Gen (retd) Khan has informed the government of his decision via Twitter.
Fawad Chaudhry, the Minister of Information and Broadcasting, announced earlier in the day that the government had decided to present the contents of the threat letter to the National Assembly tomorrow, as well as forming a commission to investigate the alleged conspiracy.
He said the commission, led by Lt Gen (retd) Tariq Khan, would look into all of the “characters” involved in the no-trust vote and expose them in front of the nation. “It’ll check to see if the communique exists and if it contains a threat of regime change.”
The information minister went on to say that the commission would review the above points in 90 days and form its own investigative teams.
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Tariq Khan, who is he?
Lt Gen Tariq Khan is a retired Pakistan Army officer who served as Commander of the I Strike Corps in Mangla. From September 2008 to October 2010, he served as the Inspector General of the Frontier Corps. From 2006 to 2007, he led the 1st Armoured Division in Multan, and from 2007 to 2008, he led the 14th Infantry Division in South Waziristan.
Khan rose to prominence after leading the Frontier Corps to victory in the Battle of Bajaur in 2009 against the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). He has also spoken out against the threat letter and referred to Prime Minister Imran Khan’s no-confidence motion as a foreign plot.
Several political analysts have expressed concern about Tariq Khan’s appointment, describing it as a government strategy. The experts demanded that the investigation commission be led by a neutral person.
The fate of the Prime Minister will be decided. Saturday
In accordance with the Supreme Court’s order, the National Assembly will convene at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow (Saturday) to vote on the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan.
The vote on the no-confidence motion is listed as the fourth item on the six-point agenda released by the National Assembly (NA) on Friday.
Despite the fact that the prime minister’s coalition lost its majority in the national assembly last week, he was spared dismissal when the deputy speaker blocked a no-confidence vote against him and the president dissolved parliament and ordered new elections.
When the deputy speaker a PTI member refused to allow the no-confidence motion, the premier claimed the Opposition had conspired with the US for “regime change.”
At the same time, Khan asked President Arif Alvi, a PTI supporter, to dissolve the assembly. The decision, which was said to be unanimous by the court, was greeted with joy by opposition supporters in the capital.
When Khan was elected in 2018 on the promise of sweeping away decades of entrenched corruption and cronyism, there were high expectations, but soaring inflation, a weak rupee, and crippling debt made it difficult for him to maintain support.