Pakistan: Announce polls in 6 days, or I’ll return to Islamabad, Imran’s ultimatum
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: As Pakistan turned into a battleground amid massive military presence and continued its descent into a Sri Lanka-type economic collapse, ousted Prime Minister Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi on Thursday morning declared he will return to Islamabad if his successor Shehbaz Sharif’s coalition government failed to announce fresh parliamentary elections within six days.
The warning came after his Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party staged an overnight, massive Azadi March from various parts of the country, leading to Islamabad. He said the government would face more mass protests if it failed to announce fresh elections by next week, as his supporters showed desperation for a showdown.
Imran’s morning address was the culmination of a chaotic 24 hours which saw the capital blockaded and clashes break out between police and protesters across the country, the media reported.
The embattled coalition government, led by Shehbaz Sharif, had attempted to prevent the PTI convoy from reaching the capital by shutting down all entry and exit points around the city, and deploying heavy security, but was forced to allow in the protesters by an emergency Supreme Court order, reports said.
Since being removed from power through a no-confidence vote early in April, the cricketer-turned-politician has mounted pressure on Pakistan’s fragile new coalition rulers by staging mass protests, touting a claim he was ousted from office in a “foreign conspiracy”, and blaming America for his ouster.
“I want to give a message to this imported government to announce elections within six days. Dissolve the assemblies and call an election in June,” Imran said.
He warned he would return to the stage for a fresh rally next week if elections were not scheduled, and called on his supporters to disperse.
The coalition government, formed after the country’s two normally feuding dynastic parties—The People’s Party and the Pakistan Muslim League—joined hands to push Imran Khan out of power, has repeatedly said it has no plans to hold a mid-term election.
The PTI’s march led to confrontations with police as protesters attempted to remove roadblocks on key highways to join the convoy to Islamabad.
Police repeatedly used teargas on protesters in the capital, as well as Lahore, Rawalpindi, and Karachi.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said it was “deeply concerned by the highhandedness of law enforcement agencies” in disrupting the march.
“The state’s overreaction has triggered, more than it has prevented, violence on the streets,” it tweeted, according to the media reports.
The Sharif government had pledged to stop the protesters from entering the capital, calling the rally an attempt to “divide the nation and promote chaos”. But as chaos broke out around the country, the Supreme Court granted permission to PTI to stage its rally on the edge of the national capital.
The apex court also ordered the government and PTI leaders to hold urgent negotiations over the political crisis and the release of supporters detained by police. Over 1,700 people were arrested since police began raiding the homes of PTI supporters on Monday night, said Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah.
Pakistan is already facing a shortage of essential commodities, facing runaway inflation, and has stopped importing luxury items to improve the economy. Former Pakistan cricketer Mohammad Hafeez tweeted that petrol pumps in Lahore ran out of fuel and ATMs were out of money.
Media outlet Geo News claimed PTI supporters attacked its office and injured some journalists in Islamabad.
