President Dr. Arif Alvi on Tuesday asked for a thorough probe carried out by an “empowered judicial commission” into the apparent regime change conspiracy which Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan asserts was responsible for the ouster of his government.
The development comes in response to an April 30 letter written by the former prime minister to the president and Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial asking for a public inquiry along with the formation of a judicial commission to investigate the “threat letter”.
According to a press release from the President’s Secretariat, Alvi said that the conditional proof in the matter should be recorded and probed to “reach a logical conclusion and provide clarity to the people of Pakistan”.
The press release said that the president informed Khan that he was sending a letter to PM Shehbaz along with chief justice of Pakistan, requesting that the latter create an empowered judicial commission to conduct open hearings regarding the matter.
The president said he had read the diplomatic cable sent by Pakistan’s former ambassador to the US Asad Majeed Khan. He said that the document contained a summary of the meeting held with US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Affairs Donald Lu. He maintained that the document contained “Lu’s statements mentioning a no-confidence motion” against the former prime minister and the consequences of its success or failure.
Alvi also mentioned the two meetings of the National Security Committee that he claimed had validated the view that Lu’s statements amounted to “unacceptable and blatant interference” in Pakistan’s internal affairs.
The president stressed that threats could be both “covert and overt” in nature and had been “clearly communicated in undiplomatic language”. He added that Imran Khan had also highlighted “serious issues” of the alleged threat’s “possible covert reactions and ramifications”.
