PTI long march to take place end-May: Fawad Chaudhry

Former information minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry announced on Friday that the party's long march, or Haqiqi Azadi March, will take place between May 20 and May 29 in Islamabad.

In a press conference, he said PTI will hold rallies from May 6 to May 20 and the long march will be held after that. He directed all party members to begin preparations to welcome a massive crowd of public to the protest.

“Hundreds of thousands of people will march towards Islamabad,” he said.

He forecasted that the size of the rally would be historic and far larger than any country has seen in modern times.

Earlier, ex-former prime minister Imran Khan had said preparations for the long march would begin on the eve of Eidul Fitr. He urged the youth to come out on the streets with the PTI’s flags in their hands.

Meanwhile, speaking about his party's claim that a foreign conspiracy was involved in ousting Khan, Chaudhry said that finally, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb had acknowledged the issue and called for the formation of a commission to probe into it.

On Thursday, PTI had rejected the government’s proposal of constituting a commission, saying no other commission except a high-powered judicial commission would be acceptable.

On this Chaudhry said: “We hope that the chief justice of Pakistan will take a decision on it this week.”

Speaking to the media, he also lamented that the new provincial government of Punjab was working similar to a temporary set up.

“Punjab is under an administration crisis and courts are responsible for it,” he stressed. “The courts should not refrain from taking action.”

Earlier in the week, Chaudhry had criticised the newly-formed government over its new economic policies.

Taking to Twitter, he said that the inflation rate in the country had reached a three-year high, while the government's hoped to grab monetary benefits from allies Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE) remained unmet.

He also said the government's policy on fuel prices remained unclear. “The economy is practically running without a driver,” he said, adding that the "interim government" is just whiling away time.