ISLAMABAD — A provincial leader of jailed former premier Imran Khan’s party said on Thursday that it would hold a public rally in the Swabi area of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on February 8 – the day marks the first anniversary of the controversial general elections of last year.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa unit chief, Junaid Akbar, said that the rally was being held on the directives of Khan.
“A public rally will be held in Swabi on February 8 on the PTI founder’s call,” Akbar, recently appointed as provincial president in place of Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, said in a statement.
The party, which is in power in the KP province, also sought permission from the local administration to hold a public gathering in Peshawar on February 8.
Separately, PTI leader Aliya Hamza submitted an application to the deputy commissioner’s office in Lahore for permission to organize a gathering at the historic Minar-e-Pakistan ground.
Khan’s party already declared that it would observe Feb 8, when elections were held, as a “Black Day” to protest against the alleged stolen mandate.
The decision to hold rallies comes as the dialogue with the government broke down after the party’s demand to set up judicial commissions to probe the incidents of May 9, 2023, and Nov 26, 2024, were not met.
The talks began on December 23 last year and the PTI handed over its charter of demands to the government during the third round held on January 17. The key demand was to set up two judicial commissions within seven days and release PTI prisoners.
The government took its time to prepare a response and asked the PTI for a meeting on January 28, but it refused to join the process after Khan directed that the talks would be further pursued only if the probe commissions were set up.
PTI’s efforts last year to force the government to accept its demands backfired and more cases were registered against the party leaders, including Khan, whose wife Bushra Bibi was arrested this month after conviction in a corruption case. Bibi had led the protest on Nov 26 last year.
It is not clear if the PTI would get permission to hold a rally in Lahore on Feb 8, but it will hold rallies in Swabi and Peshawar regions of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa because it was ruling the province. — (PTI)