Pak PM Imran Khan Holds Emergency Cabinet Meeting, Vows Not To Resign

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan held an emergency meeting of his Cabinet on Saturday night as he vowed not to resign and "fight till the last ball", even though his government is expected to lose a no-confidence motion in the National Assembly.

Mr Khan chaired the emergency Cabinet meeting where it was decided that he should not resign, sources said.

The emergency Cabinet meeting has taken many by surprise as Mr Khan has little chance of surviving the no confidence motion against him.

Later, Mr Khan met with a group of his favourite journalists, who are known for defending him in the talk-shows, and rejected rumours about making any change in the army leadership. The cricketer-turned-politician also announced that he will not resign and "fight till the last ball".

He said that he was not interfering in the process of implementation of the orders of the Supreme Court to hold a no-confidence vote.

Meanwhile, top courts have become active and the Islamabad High Court and Supreme Court were expected to become operational by midnight to take action if the orders to complete voting on a no-confidence motion against Mr Khan were not implemented till the end of the day.

Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial, who had instructed the relevant officials of the top court to open the doors at 12 am, has reached the top court, sources said, as the National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser is yet to allow voting on the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Khan.

Islamabad High Court's doors are also being opened on the instructions of Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Athar Minallah, sources said.

The joint Opposition has lodged an official complaint with the Speaker, urging him not to further delay the voting on a no-confidence motion against the prime minister. They said all authorities concerned including him were guilty of "gross contempt and liable to punishment in accordance with law."

The joint Opposition needed 172 members in the 342-member house to oust Prime Minister Khan. They have garnered the support of more than the needed strength with the help of some allies of the ruling coalition and rebels from Mr Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party.

Mr Khan, who has been saying that he will fight till the "last ball", has been claiming that the Opposition's no-confidence motion against him was the result of a "foreign conspiracy" because of his independent foreign policy and funds were being channelled from abroad to oust him from power.

In an address to the nation on Friday, the 69-year-old prime minister reiterated his allegations that a senior US diplomat threatened regime change in Pakistan. The US has bluntly rejected the allegations.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)