Plot to murder PM Imran: Fawad

Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry stated on Friday that security officials had uncovered a plan to murder.

“After these reports, the Prime Minister’s security has been ramped up as per the government’s decision,” he added.

Earlier last week, PTI leader Faisal Vawda had made similar comments, alleging that a scheme was being devised to kill the prime minister over his reluctance to “sell the nation”.

Vawda had made the statements on the ARY News programme “Off the Record” in answer to a query regarding a letter PM Imran brandished during the PTI’s March 27 power show in Islamabad, saying it contained “proof” of a “foreign plot” to overthrow his government.

Vawda acknowledged that there was a danger to PM’s life but remained evasive when questioned if the suspected plot to kill the premier was referenced in the letter.

He also alleged that the PM was warned many times that bulletproof glass needed to be put before his dais during the March 27 gathering. “But as often and as normal, he replied my [death] would come when Allah wills. Don’t worry about it,” Vawda reported him as saying.

The announcement also comes a day after the PM, during a nearly hour-long live speech to the country, threatened to thwart “an worldwide plot” organised against his administration by opposition leaders and their suspected handlers ahead of the no-confidence vote in the National Assembly.

In an apparent slip of the tongue, he had divulged the identity of the United States as the nation behind the “threat letter”. However, replying to the PM’s speech, opposition parties had proclaimed him to be a “security danger”.

On Wednesday, the premier had shared the letter with his cabinet members in a hastily arranged meeting, which was not attended by PTI’s two biggest partners — Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) — despite being invited. It has been revealed that the letter was displayed to the cabinet members on a TV screen.

PM Imran had also contacted a chosen group of TV anchors and warned them that “the tone of the letter was menacing and arrogant” and that Pakistan would suffer terrible repercussions if the no-confidence vote failed.

However, the premier did not reveal the letter to the media.

This hurry to share the paper with the cabinet and certain media occurred after it became evident that the prime minister had lost his majority in the National Assembly after the MQM-decision P’s to back the combined opposition in the no-trust vote against the prime minister.

A critical partner of the PTI government at the Centre, the MQM-P has seven seats in the NA and with its decision to cut company with the government, the opposition has garnered the backing of 177 MNAs, five more than the 172 necessary to establish a majority.