LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has warned that if elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) were not held within 90 days from the date of dissolution of the two provincial assemblies, he would launch the ‘jail bharo’ (voluntary arrest) movement.
In a video message released here on Monday, the former PM further said that as per the Constitution, it was mandatory to hold elections within 90 days; “not announcing the election schedule was a direct violation of the Constitution”. “If the elections were not held within 90 days and subsequently the Constitution was violated, Article 6 would apply,” he added.
Gearing up his workers for his party’s new campaign to pressurise the coalition government to hold elections, the PTI chief urged them to register themselves with PTI’s district presidents, so that the movement can be started in cities across Pakistan. “I would announce the launching date for the movement in a few days; hence, I want volunteers to come forward and get themselves listed for voluntary arrest,” he said, adding that through this campaign, his party will be able to acquire ‘haqeeqi azadi’ (true freedom) and genuine democracy.
Khan averred that Pakistan was facing an unprecedented economic crisis; “common people had never witnessed the extent of inflation and unemployment which the country was currently going through right now”.
Imran talks of ‘jail bharo’ movement soon
“We had two options in front of us, hold violent or peaceful protests, but we chose to remain peaceful. Considering how bad the country’s economic situation was and because we have never resorted to disruption in our 26 years of politics, the ‘jail bharo’ movement would be a peaceful way to protest” he added.
The PTI Chairman castigated the federal government for ‘running away’ from the local government elections in Islamabad, saying that despite the court orders, the ‘imported government’ has not given dates for the polls. He claimed that it disobeyed the Islamabad High Court’s orders; “the government had simply refused to comply”.
Khan castigated the incumbent government for flouting the Constitution and law, saying that people were being ‘picked up and tortured’ for ‘speaking the truth’ on social media. He alleged that the incumbent government was violating the fundamental rights of the people; “social media users were being picked up over some tweets while PTI leaders Azam Swati, Shahbaz Gill and Fawad Chaudhry, as well as his ally Sheikh Rashid, were tortured”.
He said that times had changed and people were looking towards courts. “It was time to defend the Constitution and the nation was expecting that the judiciary would stand by it,” he added.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023