ISLAMABAD: The core committee of Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) has decided to launch Haqiqi Azadi March after announcement of new budget. New federal budget is scheduled to be announced on June 10 (Friday evening).
The core committee of the PTI, nevertheless, will continue to stage nationwide protests at the district level against inflation.
The party deliberated to finalize the date for the second round of long march, and it was expected that it would develop consensus on it soon. However, PTI has not converged on the date yet.
PTI has canceled the plan for immediate long march due to the budget 2022-23. The core committee also finalized the strategy in case chairman Imran Khan gets arrested.
The party would not engage in talks other than for the date of new elections in the country and its lawmakers would also not appear before the national assembly speaker tomorrow for verification of their resignations.
Addressing the media to brief on the decisions of the core committee, PTI leader and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said the party would actively participate in the by-elections for 20 seats of Punjab Assembly which fell vacant after de-seating of PTI members on defection.
He said that Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah intends to arrest Imran Khan, adding that such action would see an ‘extreme reaction’.
He urged the party activists to strongly react if Imran Khan gets arrested by the ‘imported government’ without waiting for any instruction from the party.
Qureshi warned that those thinking there would be silence over Imran Khan’s arrest were mistaking.
He asked Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) to clear up its stance on the recent negotiation rounds between Pakistan and Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), adding that these talks during PTI’s government were opposed widely.
The ex-minister also criticized the inflation storm in the country after hike in electricity, gas, and fuel prices. He asked the party organizations and workers to identify the police officials who raided the houses of workers ahead of the Haqiqi Azadi March for approaching courts against them.
Qureshi said the women wing of PTI would stage protests in Rawalpindi or Islamabad against the brutality of the law enforcement agencies, including paramilitary Rangers, on female and children during the long march.
He added that the committees in Senate and Punjab Assembly would also summon the officials of LEAs to question them on the brutality on ‘peaceful protesters’.
PTI leader said the core committee also decided that the President of Pakistan Dr Arif Alvi, who wrote a letter to the Supreme Court to probe into alleged conspiracy, would also raise the point why no action was taken against the political interference from outside by the defenders of the country when the National Security Council (NSC) endorsed it.
He added that the overseas Pakistanis would be engaged to raise the human rights violations committed by the government during the long march.
The former minister said the core committee expressed dissatisfaction over the new delimitations carried out by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and announced to challenge them.
He said gerrymandering has been done under a specific design, to give an edge to the PML-N over PTI, especially in the upcoming by-elections in Punjab.
