PTI announces ‘street’ comeback across country from tomorrow

PTI announces ‘street’ comeback across country from tomorrow. Pakistan Tehrkeek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry has said that the party will start country-wide anti-government protests from tomorrow (Friday) — in its bid to hold early polls.

The PTI senior vice president, in conversation with journalists in Lahore after the party’s high-level meeting with Khan in the chair, said: “From tomorrow, country-wide protests will start against rising inflation, deteriorating economy, and shortage of gas.”

In the first phase, Fawad said PTI’s members of national and provincial assemblies would lead the protests for three weeks in their constituencies across the country.

“After three weeks, Imran Khan will join the campaign and this process will continue till this government is ousted,” the PTI leader said, asking the nation to join hands with the party.

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The PTI has time and again demanded the staging of early polls after former prime minister Imran Khan’s ouster in April as the party refuses to go back to the National Assembly and keeps on stressing that “early elections” are the only solution to the country’s ongoing crisis.

But the government has ruled out staging early polls and has told the PTI that given the current situation — floods, census, and new delimitation — the elections cannot be held before October.

The announcement to return to the streets comes after PTI’s chief in November called off the long march in Rawalpindi and announced plans for the dissolution of the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies, but it is yet to materialise.

The dissolution of the KP Assembly has been linked to Punjab, whose disbandment plans hit a snag last week when the Lahore High Court reinstated Parvez Elahi as Punjab’s chief minister and ordered him to not dissolve the legislative.

‘Majority’ in Punjab

ٖFawad said PTI and its ally, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), have a majority — 190 lawmakers — in the Punjab Assembly, and they are currently mulling over the vote of confidence.

“We will try that CM Elahi takes a vote of confidence before January 11. 177 Punjab Assembly lawmakers are in contact with us,” the former information minister said.

He also blamed Punjab Governor Baligh-ur-Rehman for becoming part of “a conspiracy” in de-notifying Elahi as the chief minister. “The governor and the chief secretary will have to come to the assembly and answer for their actions.”

The governor had de-notified Elahi as the chief minister, and subsequently, the chief secretary had issued a notification for the dissolution of the cabinet — but the LHC suspended the notifications.

Fawad said it was the PTI’s prerogative to either continue the Punjab government or dissolve it as he slammed the opposition for allegedly horse-trading.

“Whenever a market [for buying lawmakers] is staged, Zardari comes to Punjab with bags full of money,” the PTI leader said, slamming the PPP co-chairman.