Donald Lu

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In April 2022, Pakistan's then prime minister Imran Khan claimed that prior to a no-confidence motion filed against him by opposition parties, Pakistan's ambassador to the US, Asad Majeed Khan, was warned by Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu that Khan's continuation in office would have repercussions for bilateral ties between the two nations. [16] [17] Although the State Department denied it, Khan reiterated the allegations against Lu during a televised news conference. [18] [19] During the Department Press Briefing on April 8, 2022, Deputy State Department Spokesperson Jalina Porter was also asked about the allegation by Khan that the US encouraged the no-confidence vote, with Khan stating that he had a cable ("letter") to prove it. [20] [21] Foreign Policy highlighted the heightened tensions between Pakistan and the US in their South Asia Brief on April 7, 2022. [22] [23] Pakistan's National Security Council (NSC) announced it was issuing a "strong demarche" to an undisclosed country, presumably the US, over a 'threat letter'—purportedly showing evidence of a foreign conspiracy to oust Khan's PTI-led government—terming it as "blatant interference in the internal affairs of Pakistan". [24] Furthermore, Pakistan's Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) director general (DG) major-general Babar Iftikhar commented on the issuance of the demarche during a press conference on April 14, stating that "In this case, it was given for undiplomatic language and is equal to interference." [25] [26] Shireen Mazari, a Pakistani politician who served as the federal minister for human rights under the PTI government, quoted Donald Lu as saying: "If Prime Minister Imran Khan remains in office, then PM Imran Khan will be isolated from the United States and we will take the issue head on; but if the vote of no-confidence succeeds, all will be forgiven". [27]

On 23 May 2022, Imran Khan suggested in an interview with CNN that Lu be fired "for bad manners and sheer arrogance." [28]

On 9 August 2023, The Intercept, an online American nonprofit news organization, published a copy of the previously undisclosed cypher—a secret Pakistani cable document—from March 7, 2022, clearly demonstrating the pressure from the U.S. State Department to remove then Prime Minister Imran Khan. The cypher reveals both the carrots[ clarification needed ] and the sticks[ clarification needed ] that the State Department deployed in its push against Khan, promising warmer relations if Khan was removed, and isolation if he was not. [29]

Awards and honors

Lu was awarded two Meritorious Honor Awards and five Superior Honor Awards. [4]

Personal life

Lu is married to Ariel Ahart, a public health specialist. They have two children. In addition to English, Lu speaks Chinese, West African Krio, Urdu, Hindi, Russian, Georgian, Azerbaijani and Albanian. [4]

See also

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">No-confidence motion against Imran Khan</span> 2022 removal of Pakistani prime minister

In April 2022, a no-confidence motion against Imran Khan led to his removal as the prime minister of Pakistan. Based largely on the Westminster system of legislature, the prime minister commands confidence of the majority of the lower house of Parliament, the National Assembly of Pakistan, under clause (2A) of Article 91 of the Constitution. Numerous opposition parties joined forces to file the motion of no confidence against Imran Khan in the National Assembly. It ultimately led to the removal of Khan from office as a majority passed the motion in the Lower House.

A political and constitutional crisis emerged in Pakistan from, 3 April 2022 to 10 April 2022 when, National Assembly's deputy speaker Qasim Khan Suri dismissed a no-confidence motion against prime minister Imran Khan during a session in which it was expected to be taken up for a vote, alleging that a foreign country's involvement in the regime change was contradictory to Article 5 of the constitution of Pakistan. Moments later, Khan stated in a televised address that he had advised president Arif Alvi to dissolve the National Assembly. Alvi complied with Khan's advice under Article 58 of the constitution. This resulted in the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) taking a suo motu notice of the ongoing situation, creating a constitutional crisis, as effectively, Imran Khan led a constitutional coup. Four days later, the SCP ruled that the dismissal of the no-confidence motion, the prorogation of the National Assembly, the advice from Imran Khan to president Arif Alvi to dissolve the National Assembly, and the subsequent dissolution of the National Assembly were unconstitutional, and overturned these actions in a 5-0 vote. The Supreme Court further held that the National Assembly had not been prorogued and had to be reconvened by the speaker immediately and no later than 10:30 a.m. on 9 April 2022.

Lettergate is an American-Pakistani political affair set off by a conversation at a farewell lunch for Asad Majeed Khan, then-Pakistani ambassador to the United States, on 7 March 2022 at Khan's official residence known as the Pakistan House. A diplomatic telegram was sent by Ambassador Khan to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs based on the notes taken by a note-taker from the embassy of Pakistan based in Washington, D.C. The telegram allegedly stated that in the course of the meeting, the United States had expressed a desire to the government of Pakistan for prime minister Imran Khan to be removed from office because of his neutral stance on the war between Russia and Ukraine and refusal to back the Ukrainians, promising warmer relations if Pakistan agrees while threatening isolation if it does not. The lunch was attended by US officials including then US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu and Deputy Assistant Secretary Lesslie Viguerie. The Pakistani diplomats attending the lunch meeting included Deputy Chief of Mission Syed Naveed Bokhari and the defence attaché.

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References

  1. 1 2 "Donald Lu (1966–)". history.state.gov. Archived from the original on 2021-09-25. Retrieved 2021-09-25.
  2. ↑ "Remarks of Ambassador Donald Lu at the Post-Credentials Press Conference". U.S. Embassy in Albania. 13 January 2015. Archived from the original on 4 July 2022. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  3. ↑ Lu, Donald (1988). "The Involvement of International Peacekeeping in Providing Humanitarian Assistance".{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Embassy of the United States". Archived from the original on 2010-12-05. Retrieved 2011-01-20.
  5. ↑ Bewig, Matt (June 8, 2018). "Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan: Who Is Donald Lu?". www.allgov.com. AllGov.com. Archived from the original on December 9, 2018. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
  6. ↑ Victoria Dementiyeva (2010-02-02). "Charge d'Affaires Donald Lu: "There is no purpose to prolong the appointment of the new US ambassador to Azerbaijan"". Azeri Press Agency. Archived from the original on 2012-09-17. Retrieved 2011-01-20.
  7. ↑ "President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts". whitehouse.gov. 2013-07-25. Retrieved 2021-09-25.
  8. ↑ "PN721 — Donald Lu — Department of State 113th Congress (2013-2014)". US Congress. 3 January 2014. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  9. ↑ "PN1134 - Nomination of Donald Lu for Department of State, 113th Congress (2013-2014)". www.congress.gov. 2014-11-20. Retrieved 2021-09-25.
  10. ↑ "Donald Lu". www.state.gov. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
  11. ↑ "PN2028 — Donald Lu — Department of State". U.S. Congress. 6 September 2018. Retrieved 2018-09-07.
  12. ↑ "New U.S. Ambassador Donald Lu meets with President of Kyrgyzstan". «24.kg» News Agency. October 12, 2018. Retrieved 2018-11-01.
  13. ↑ "President Biden Announces Key Administration Nominations in National Security". The White House. April 23, 2021.
  14. ↑ "Donald Lu". United States Department of State. Retrieved 2021-09-25.
  15. ↑ "PN551 - Nomination of Donald Lu for Department of State, 117th Congress (2021-2022)". www.congress.gov. 2021-09-13. Retrieved 2021-09-25.
  16. ↑ Syed, Baqir Sajjad (2022-04-02). "Zalmay Khalilzad offers to help better Pak-US ties". Dawn. Retrieved 2022-04-03.
  17. ↑ Sandhu, Kamaljit Kaur (April 3, 2022). "Pakistan PM Imran Khan claims US diplomat Donald Lu involved in 'conspiracy' to topple his govt and he also did not reject the claims of Imran khan when Indian Journalist asked this question". India Today. Retrieved 2022-04-03.
  18. ↑ "PTI's official tweet titled Prime Minister Imran Khan's address to Parliamentarians (in Urdu)". Twitter. Retrieved 2022-04-03.
  19. ↑ "Lu evades question about Imran's allegations". Dawn. 2022-04-05. Retrieved 2022-04-06.
  20. ↑ "Department Press Briefing – April 8, 2022". United States Department of State. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
  21. ↑ Iqbal, Anwar (2022-04-10). "'Absolutely no truth' in claims of involvement: US". Dawn. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
  22. ↑ Kugelman, Michael (7 April 2022). "Political Crisis Heightens U.S.-Pakistan Tensions". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
  23. ↑ "Can US-Pakistan relations be salvaged after Imran Khan's conspiracy allegations?". Twitter. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
  24. ↑ Khan, Sanaullah (2022-03-31). "NSC decides to issue strong demarche to unnamed country over 'threat letter'". Dawn. Retrieved 2022-04-14.
  25. ↑ "NSC statement did not include the word 'conspiracy': DG ISPR". Dawn. 2022-04-14. Retrieved 2022-04-14.
  26. ↑ "Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG) Major General Babar Iftikhar press conference". Instagram. Retrieved 2022-04-14.
  27. ↑ "Shireen Mazari talks about the foreign conspiracy that happened in Pakistan (in Urdu and English)". Twitter. Retrieved 2022-04-14.
  28. ↑ "Exclusive: Pakistan's Imran Khan doubles down on unfounded claim that US plotted his downfall". CNN. 2022-05-23.
  29. ↑ "Exclusive: Secret Pakistan cable documents U.S. pressure to remove Imran Khan". The Intercept. 2023-08-09.
Donald Lu
Donald Lu official photo.jpg
7th Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs
Incumbent
Assumed office
September 15, 2021
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by United States Ambassador to Albania
2015–2018		Succeeded by
Preceded by United States Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan
2018–2021		Succeeded by
Sonata Coulter
Charge d’Affaires
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