Pakistan PM Imran to address nation tonight

A day after Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan postponed his address to the nation, Federal Minister for Information Fawad Chaudhry said on Thursday that the premier will address the nation tonight.

In a post on Twitter, Fawad said the prime minister will speak to the nation tonight. A similar statement was made by Federal Minister for Interior Sheikh Rashid during a brief interaction with the media, reports DAWN.

Separately, in a tweet, PTI Senator Faisal Javed Khan said that time of the address will be revealed later.

The development comes as the prime minister is facing a no-confidence motion in the National Assembly. Yesterday, the MQM-P — the government's main ally in the Centre — announced that it would support the joint opposition in the no-trust resolution.

The MQM-P has seven seats in Pakistan National Assembly and after its decision to part ways with the government, the opposition has gathered the support of 177 MNAs, five more than the 172 required to gain a majority.

In the face of the opposition's onslaught, PM Imran has also made allegations of a "foreign conspiracy" being responsible for efforts to oust him.

At a public meeting held on Sunday, the premier had pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and waved it at the crowd, claiming it was evidence of an "international conspiracy" being hatched to topple his government.

On Wednesday, this letter was shared with members of the federal cabinet in a hurriedly called meeting, which was not attended by the MQM-P and Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) despite being invited. The letter was shown to the cabinet members on a TV screen.

PM Imran also called a selected group of TV anchors and informed them that "the language of the letter was threatening and arrogant" and that Pakistan would face dire consequences if the no-confidence motion failed.

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