PTI delays Lahore rally ‘to focus on Islamabad power show’

LAHORE: The embattled Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Sunday postponed another power show that was scheduled to take place in Lahore on August 27, after cancelling its public rally in Islamabad three days ago.

Shaukat Mehmood Basra, Information Secretary of former ruling party Punjab, has said that after his “power show” in the federal capital on September 8, the new date of the Lahore Jalsa will be announced soon.

He assured that the party founded by Imran Khan will pay full attention to its upcoming major political program.

The development is being seen as another blow to the political credibility of the embattled party, which has suffered a series of setbacks in organizing its political events.

Earlier, the PTI had announced that it would hold a rally in Islamabad’s Tarnool at any cost, despite the cancellation of the No Objection Certificate (NOC) by the local administration, which allowed the party to travel to the federal capital. Roads were also sealed. Later, the party, in a last-minute move, rescheduled its public gathering for September 8.

PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan announced that the meeting has been postponed on the instructions of party founder Imran Khan.

Meanwhile, in a recent audio statement, the jailed former prime minister’s sister, Aleema Khan, expressed displeasure over the move, criticizing the PTI leadership for having no “genuine intention” to release the party’s founder from jail. “No.

A short audio clip, purportedly featuring Aleema Khan’s voice, has been circulating on social media, in which a woman can be heard expressing her displeasure over the postponement of the rally.

She questioned why senior PTI leader Azam Swati went to Imran early in the morning and at whose request. “Who instructed him [Swati] to meet Imran at 7 am and convey the message regarding the postponement of the rally?”

Aleema further asked why he was consulting the PTI founder, who is currently lodged in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail and slammed the party’s top brass for taking timely decisions.

However, the federal government’s spokesperson on legal affairs, Barrister Aqeel Malik, claimed that the Center had approached Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur to cancel the public gathering.