Pakistan: Imran Khan 'vows' to stand by long march, launches 11-day campaign for early polls
Dec 07, 2022
Islamabad [Pakistan], December 7 : Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chief Imran Khan on Wednesday launched an 11-day campaign, demanding early polls and declared that there would never be a compromise with the protest march and added that he would take the "next step" if the Shehbaz Sharif-led ruling coalition delayed the conduct of "transparent elections."
As per the Express Tribune, the PTI leader spoke in Lahore to a group of young journalists, social media influencers, and YouTubers and discussed the political climate of the nation, constraints on free speech and the media, and breaches of human rights.
"I am fighting for the nation's true freedom. People are fighting alongside me to overthrow the authoritarian system, Imran claimed.
If the current government delays holding free and transparent elections, we will take the next step, he added.
Separately, the PTI chairman made fun of the PML-N-led government, claiming that "immunity" was being granted in corruption cases of Rs. 1,100 billion under "NRO-2." He called this "daylight theft," the Express Tribune reported.
Notably, Pakistan's former Prime Minister and PTI Chief Imran Khan, during his meeting with lawmakers and office-bearers hailing from Lahore at his Zaman Park residence on Monday, decided to hold the campaign, Geo News reported.
Under the first phase of the nationwide drive -- from December 7 to 17 -- mass rallies and public gatherings will be held in Lahore. The campaign will kick start with a rally in Hammad Azhar's constituency in the provincial capital city on December 7.
Earlier, Khan expressed his willingness to halt the dissolution of assemblies of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces if the election will take place by March.
Imran's PTI is in power in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. However, the PTI has yet to announce a date for the dissolution of assemblies in Punjab and KP, according to Dawn.
Addressing the party's power show in Rehmanabad, Khan said, "We will not be part of this system. We have decided to quit all the assemblies and get out of this corrupt system."
