Pakistani prime minister says he won't accept results of no-confidence vote

Demonstrators marching in support of Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan

(Image credit: Muhammed Semih Ugurlu/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

published 3 April 2022

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said Saturday that he will not accept the results of Sunday's no-confidence vote, The New York Times reports.

Khan, a former cricket star who took office in 2018 but has since lost the support of Pakistan's politically active army and of many lawmakers in his own party, is likely to lose the vote, creating a political crisis if he refuses to step down.

On Saturday, Khan told reporters from the Times and other outlets that the vote was part of a policy of "regime change" being implemented by the United States. Khan has aligned Pakistan more closely with China and met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on the day that Russia's invasion of Ukraine began. President Biden has not called Khan since taking office. Khan also praised the Taliban for having "broken the shackles of slavery" when they seized control of Afghanistan after the United States' withdrawal last summer, according to The Wall Street Journal.

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Grayson Quay was the weekend editor at TheWeek.com. His writing has also been published in National Review, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Modern Age, The American Conservative, The Spectator World, and other outlets. Grayson earned his M.A. from Georgetown University in 2019.

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