Wed 26 October 2022:
Imran Khan, a former prime minister of Pakistan, has announced that on Friday, he and his supporters will start a protest march from the eastern city of Lahore to the capital in order to demand early elections.
Following Khan’s removal from his parliamentary seat last week after Pakistan’s top election tribunal found him guilty of illegally selling gifts from foreign dignitaries and heads of state, his supporters staged smaller protests.
“I have decided to launch the long march from Friday at 11am [06:00 GMT] from Liberty Square in Lahore to Islamabad,” Khan said at a press conference in Lahore on Tuesday. The distance between the two cities is about 380km (236 miles).
“I am marching to press the government to announce elections immediately,” he said, adding that his supporters and party members should avoid violence. “This will be the largest long march in the country’s history.”
The government has already declared that protesters will not be allowed into Islamabad, and they plan to send out about 30,000 law enforcement officers to surround the city for security.
In order to block off all entrances to Islamabad before the demonstrators arrive, authorities also sent hundreds of containers there.
Here it is the announcement of Long March. This is surely gonna be historical event ever in history of Pakistan. If it gets succeed, it’s victory must be affiliated with #ArshadSharif#LongMarch #چلو_چلو_کپتان_کے_ساتھ pic.twitter.com/ttMedhlKrk
— Fazal Abbas (@FazalSamtiah) October 25, 2022
Khan has protested across the nation since being ousted from office in a no-confidence vote in the legislature in April, calling for early elections; however, the government has stated that they will take place as scheduled in October or November of next year.
Last week’s ruling has added to the political and economic uncertainty plaguing Pakistan this year. The 70-year-old cricketer-turned-politician was accused of misusing his 2018 to 2022 premiership to buy and sell gifts in state possession that were received during visits abroad and worth more than 140 million Pakistani rupees ($635,000).
In his remarks, Khan also condemned the killing of well-known Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif by Kenyan police, claiming Sharif was forced to leave the nation because his life was in danger.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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