According to a report in the Indian Express, former Pakistan PM Imran Khan gave a six-day ultimatum to the Shehbaz Sharif government for dissolving provincial assemblies and announcing fresh general elections.
Khans and his party PTI’s supporters removed the barricades placed by the government, and the army was called in to ensure law and order was maintained.
Khan warned that if the ‘imported government’ failed to meet his demands, he would return to the capital with ‘the entire nation.’
Khan had earlier this week called upon his supporters to storm the capital. He has begun what he described as a battle for real freedom on May 25. He is demanding the immediate dissolution of the National Assembly and the announcement of an election date. He plans to gather more than a million people to join him in the march.
It has been more than six weeks since Pakistan’s new government took oath, but Pakistan’s myriad problems with respect to its economy, corruption and unbridled inflation have kept political uncertainty high. Some say more political upheaval may have an adverse effect on negotiations with the IMF and diminish the possibility of getting a bailout from Pakistan’s global allies.
The Shehbaz Sharif government has been mostly conservative in its policymaking, according to pundits, and turns to the military for larger decisions, as has always been the case in Pakistan.
‘I will sit here until the government dissolves assemblies and announces elections, but of what I have seen in the past 24 hours, they (govt) are taking the nation towards anarchy,’ Khan went on, claiming that the government was also trying to create a divide between the nation and police.
Khan said the government would be happy if he staged a sit-in in Islamabad, as it would lead to clashes between the people and police and the army, adding that he had obtained reports on PTI workers being killed in the clashes.
‘I am again asking the judiciary to save your FIA (Federal Investigation Agency). In the future, no FIA officer will investigate the powerful if he will meet the same end as Dr Rizwan and Asghar,’ he said.
Pakistan PM Sharif hit out at Imran Khan in the National Assembly, saying ‘the man who used to abuse opposition leaders is again returning on road to create chaos in the country.’
Khan has, meanwhile, called off the ‘PTI Long March’ as the protests got chaotic, and with law enforcement stepping in.