A US-backed regime change is nothing new; there are countless examples in history. It has remained the writ of the US to overthrow regimes that do not benefit or favor her.
During the Cold War, the US pursued regime change in various countries. Using covert regime change to remove “unfavorable” governments has historically been a method of choice for Washington, just like military interventions and occupations. Since 1898, the US has always been involved in such endeavors, which former US president Woodrow Wilson once defined as a duty to “educate them to elect good persons.”
Despite the conspiracy notion of Pakistani government transitions, it is true that the United States has always intervened. The ouster of Pakistan’s prime minister, Imran Khan, is a recent example. Although the United States has denied any involvement.
It is apparent that in today’s digitalized world any direct intervention is severely criticized and hit back so the US plotted this whole through her so-called democratic notion. By using millions of dollars she bought some loyalties and made coalition partners against the government, even bringing a few dissenting members to their side. When the whole game was plotted, the then-prime minister, Imran Khan, was subjected to a vote of no confidence on March 8th.
According to Pakistan’s democratic history, no vote of no confidence has ever succeeded in the past. This is the first time a Pakistani Prime Minister has been deposed in such a democratic manner. This approach has wreaked havoc because Imran Khan has successfully marketed a strong US-backed regime change narrative. On April 9, 2022, a vote of no confidence was passed, which was a tremendous victory for this pseudo-democracy. However, since the whole process was tainted by the letter-gate scandal, democracy is again under severe criticism.
With the passage of time, more information about the cryptic message became available. The foreign power was disclosed to be the United States, and the threat was purportedly made to Pakistan’s then-ambassador to the US by Donald Lu, a US diplomat specializing in South and Central Asia. The threat delineated that “if the vote of no-confidence against Imran Khan fails, serious repercussions for Pakistan will follow”. However, this chat between the two diplomats occurred on March 7th, while the opposition tabled the vote of no-confidence on March 8th, raising the suspicions of the PTI administration and the informed public.
Imran Khan then presented the letter to the National Security Committee (NSC), which includes the Prime Minister, four service chiefs, the Director-General of the Intelligence Services, and cabinet members. The letter was endorsed by the committee, which stated that the country in question had “blatantly interfered in the internal affairs of Pakistan”. When questioned by a journalist in India, Donald Lu did not deny the conversation, but the State Department has stated that “Allegations of US involvement in the no-trust motion and ‘threat letter’ to PM Imran Khan are baseless. The US government is monitoring the political situation in Pakistan and supports the rule of law in the country, the State Department said”.
As time passed, it became clear that, in addition to the PDM, the media and the judiciary also wanted Khan to step down. Imran Khan’s narrative of a foreign plot orchestrated by inside actors to depose him, on the other hand, acquired huge traction and helped him regain some of his lost popularity. In other words, in the perspective of the nation, it was Imran Khan (and the people) vs. the PDM/West (a rigged and corrupt system). This story is still prevalent, and Pakistanis are chastising persons and institutions they believe were involved in Imran Khan’s removal on social media.
Regime Change Indicators
According to the PTI government, the threatening letter was received on March 7th, 2022, and the PDM tabled the no-confidence vote on March 8th which raises suspicion on time. During this time, the PDM is said to have started bribing sitting PTI-MNAs with money and seats in the upcoming election. Twelve PTI-MNAs were missing and were later found in the hands of the opposition at Sindh House. PDM officials allegedly hid these MNAs at a hotel in Islamabad afterward.
Other oddities were PDM leaders and opposition PTI-MNAs meeting with US diplomats. On March 7, 2022, The then opposition parties such as PPP and PMLN met with Aleem khan the dissented member of PTI. And meeting with Andrea Hillyer, an American Political officer with PDM officials, and dissented PTI member Raja Riaz raises eyebrows and more suspicion about US involvement. Other notable encounters include Makaneole’s meeting with Hamza Shahbaz (son of current Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif) on March 3, 2022, and Mark Stroh, the American Consul General in Karachi, meeting with the Pakistan People’s Party.
Khan further stated that the letter was evidence of foreign intervention and a danger to the nation’s sovereignty, which should have brought all parties together. To avoid the intervention and to prove their loyalty to Pakistan he then called the National Security Committee meeting but deliberately the PDM parties ignored the government’s request, which was unfortunate (and suspicious). Even then Imran’s government requested an in-house camera session on a few occasions but they did not bother to sit together.
When the issue became public, the judiciary came forward and the Supreme Court has always dominated the airwaves during the horse-trading and letter-gate scandals. The President of Pakistan petitioned the Supreme Court to review Article 63(A), but no decision was reached and the case was put on hold, whereas the Supreme Court took immediate Suo Moto action on a holiday when the PTI’s deputy speaker ruled out voting on the no-confidence motion due to the foreign letter, and the assemblies were dissolved. The populace was enraged by the Supreme Court’s ‘biassed’ attitude.
And when the National Assembly was instructed to take a vote of no-confidence on April 9th, the speaker assured everyone that the vote would be held; nonetheless, the administration began delaying tactics by launching a debate. The opponents declared that they would remain in the NA until the court directives were carried out. The Supreme Court and Islamabad High Court doors magically opened near midnight, when the ‘crime’ had not yet occurred – maybe for the first time in Pakistani history. The Chief Justice and several justices arrived at the court, implying that the administration would be regarded in contempt of court if the vote was not held by midnight.
Last but not the least, Western powers have been openly critical of Pakistan’s decision not to join the US-led alliance against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, as well as the Prime Minister’s visit to Moscow prior to the invasion, going so far as to condemn Pakistan in a joint press statement, which is diplomatically unprecedented and unacceptable.
Conclusively, with a track record like this, it’s understandable that the US would be willing to engineer the overthrow of Imran Khan’s administration in favor of a more compliant one. When the Biden administration took office, the brief favorable trend in Pakistan-US ties that followed Pakistan’s facilitation of the American-Taliban conversation came to an end.
Furthermore, Pakistan’s outreach to China and Russia, particularly the implementation of the CPEC and promotion of regional connectivity, has increased this resentment, undermining America’s containment of China in the Asia-Pacific. Furthermore, India’s ongoing conflicts with Pakistan over Kashmir and with China in Ladakh, which pose a two-front threat to the country, jeopardize India’s role as the US’s “net security provider.” As a result, the US wants Pakistan to “normalize” relations with India, but only on Indian terms, which Khan’s government rejects. These are the geopolitical grounds that essentially justify the United States’ desire to alter Pakistan’s government.
