Islamabad [Pakistan]: Former Pakistan Prime Minister and PTI leader Imran Khan threatened that his supporters would not leave D-Chowk in Islamabad until the Shehbaz Sharif government set a date for new elections, escalating political tensions in the country.
Tension escalated in Pakistan as clashes took place between police and PTI workers after authorities tried to block them from moving toward the federal capital.
According to the Dawn newspaper, Pakistan’s ousted Prime Minister has asked “all Pakistanis” to take to the streets in their respective cities and appealed to women and children to come out of their homes for “real independence.”
Analysts say that Imran Khan seems to be using the same tactics of “dharna” as he employed in 2013 before coming to power in Islamabad.
In past, PTI had rejected the results of the 2013 elections and sat on dharna for around 126 days in 2014 without any result, according to the Pakistan vernacular media.
Pakistan media reports say that Pakistan seems to be heading towards political confrontation following the Shehbaz Sharif government’s decision to ban the PTI march. According to Dawn, crackdowns on the opposition leaders and the sealing of the capital have created a highly volatile situation.
The apex court of Pakistan on Wednesday ordered the current administration to refrain from detaining Imran Khan and the PTI workers to stage a sit-in protest in Islamabad’s H-9 ground area.
The court order was issued after PTI promised to organise a peaceful protest with no damage to public or private property.
In 2018, Imran Khan was voted in by an electorate weary of the dynastic politics of the country’s two major parties.
The popular former sports star – who enjoyed backing the country’s powerful military and had promised to sweep away decades of entrenched corruption and cronyism is believed to have fallen out with Pakistan’s generals.
He was brought down in part by his failure to rectify the country’s dire economic situation, including its crippling debt, shrinking foreign currency reserves and soaring inflation.
