All eyes on PM Imran Khan's address to nation as SC restores NA, revives no-trust vote

• PM Imran Khan to address nation this evening.
• Hold meetings with cabinet division and PTI's parliamentary party.
• Says "I have always and will continue to fight for Pakistan till the last ball."

Despite being clean bowled with the Supreme Court's judgement, giving the PTI-led government a major setback, Prime Minister Imran Khan has pledged to fight for Pakistan "till the last ball."

After the apex court handed down the verdict, PM Imran Khan announced that he will address the nation once again this evening (Friday).

A statement issued on the premier's Twitter account read:

"I have called a cabinet mtg tomorrow as well as our parliamentary party meeting, and tomorrow evening I will address the nation. My message to our nation is I have always and will continue to fight for Pakistan till the last ball."

The Supreme Court of Pakistan restored the National Assembly after it declared the government's decision to dissolve the assembly and NA Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri's ruling against the Constitution.

The top court has ordered National Assembly Speaker Asad Qasier to summon the session on Saturday (April 9) and not later than 10:30am to allow the vote on the no-confidence motion against the premier.

Cabinet meeting

Besides addressing the nation, PM Imran Khan will also hold a meeting of the federal cabinet and PTI's parliamentary party to chalk out the future course of action today.

PM Imran Khan will preside over a meeting of the federal cabinet at 2pm today.

The meeting will discuss the current political situation in the country and hold a consultation over the foreign "threat letter".

Sources privy to the matter said that important consultation will be done regarding the Official Secrets Act as well.

After the Cabinet meeting, the government may make the “threat letter” public today in a bid to turn the situation to the premier’s favour.

Moreover, the government’s future strategy will also be discussed in the meeting.

The federal cabinet has not met for the last 9 weeks, Geo News reported.

Later, the premier will hold a meeting with the PTI's parliamentary party at 3pm to deliberate over the political scenario.

Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry said that the prime minister summoned an emergency party meeting where he was given a briefing by the legal team with reference to the apex court judgment and possible options on Thursday night.

It was learnt that various options were being discussed, including en masse resignations from the legislatures to thwart the "designs of the combined opposition" during the meeting.

Earlier, hours before the judgment, the prime minister inaugurated the Pakistan Emergency Helpline (PEHEL-911) here and addressed the ceremony, wherein he said that the fundamental responsibility of the state is to protect the life and property of its citizens and if it abdicates from this, then the state does not remain a state. The premier said that after the 18th Amendment, the country looked fractured unfortunately, as the provinces were on the one side and the federal government on the other. "On this project, we all must be on one page, as this is in the interest of all. And, this is a major step towards the vision I had 25 years ago of building a welfare state on the principles of Madina state,” he said.

'Unexpected decision': Imran Ismail

Meanwhile, speaking to a private news channel, Sindh Governor Imran Ismail said he was very sorry to say that such a decision was not expected. "We have always respected the decisions of the courts. We will look at the evidence and make the letter a part of the decision."

Imran Ismail said it was an international conspiracy against Pakistan as it was not a Qatari letter but Pakistan has been threatened with regime change. The governor said "We are fully prepared for elections, the opposition itself was demanding an immediate election, and is now running away. What was happening in the Sindh House was unconstitutional."

He said those were unfortunate decisions, the situation of uncertainty would increase, there would be no improvement, political confrontation would intensify, the economy might be shaken.

The Sindh governor said: “We will play our role to the fullest. No one can accuse Imran Khan of corruption. The decision is yet to be taken in the National Assembly on Saturday. Parliamentarians have been called to the meeting.”

Ismail said that there were rumours regarding the resignations; if the prime minister says so, then the PTI members will resign. Tomorrow, it will be decided what will be the next course of action. In the meeting with the PM, everything will be consulted.