Islamabad – AFP
Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has ended a rally of thousands of his supporters in Islamabad on Wednesday night and Thursday night, giving the Pakistani government six days to approve the early elections. On Wednesday morning, Pakistani police closed the gates of the capital and placed heavy detainees to prevent the march from reaching.
The parade was stopped by confrontation in many places, and the police used tears as the protesters tried to overcome barriers. On Wednesday evening, the Supreme Court issued a ruling allowing protesters to reach the capital with police.
Imran Khan was ousted by parliament on April 10 in a no-confidence vote. His party, the Insaf Movement, is trying to mobilize in the streets to increase pressure on the coalition government to call early assembly elections.
After a tense day and night, the former cricket star addressed a few thousand supporters gathered in the center of the capital less than he expected.
“The message I want to send to this” imported “government is to approve the early elections within six days, dissolve the councils and call for elections in June.” He warned that new meetings would be called next week if the government did not respond. He then called his supporters and ended the struggle.
After that, his supporters quietly dispersed and traffic in the capital resumed, while in other parts of the country the situation returned to normal.
Political analyst Qamar Shema said Imran Khan’s move was a failure because police repression prevented his supporters from staying on the streets as long as he expected.
Seema estimated: “With only 30,000 protesters, staying in Islamabad to face the police is not a good idea. If Khan had succeeded in mobilizing a large number of protesters, he would not have given the government a deadline because he did not have the power to negotiate.
The government announced on Tuesday that it would block the move, which is aimed primarily at “creating divisions and chaos in the country.”
Elections are to be held in October 2023, which is the date on which the election of the elected Khan ends in 2018. After the reluctance, it seems that the government of Shahbaz Sharif has decided to try to improve the economic conditions. Country before organizing elections.
Over the past three years, the deteriorating economic and security situation has left Imran Khan in office, and the Sharif-led Pakistan Muslim League and the Bhutto family-led Pakistan People’s Party have returned to power in a coalition government. These two rival parties have dominated political life for decades.
At a time when the situation was deteriorating at several stages, the Supreme Court intervened in the evening and ordered the government to allow the protesters even into the capital, but away from the fortified government centers, the movement remained quiet. On Wednesday evening, the court ordered the release of those arrested in the last 24 hours and called on the government and the opposition to hold talks to organize a peaceful and secure march in the capital. Police arrested 1,700 Khan supporters during Tuesday night’s raids, according to the interior minister.
Khan landed his helicopter on the highway among his supporters in his party-ruled Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and joined the movement at an event.