ISLAMABAD - The opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party on Sunday offered the government that it would postpone its protest scheduled for October 15, subject to a meeting with party founder and former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
During a meeting of the PTI core committee chaired by Barrister Salman Akram Raja, it was decided that if a meeting with Imran Khan was arranged by October 14, the protest will be postponed, according to the sources. “If a meeting with doctors, lawyers, or any party leader is facilitated, the protest would be postponed,” the sources quoted the party leadership as having decided. However, the sources added, if the meeting is not arranged, a strong protest would take place on October 15.
During the meeting, some party members suggested postponing the protest due to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit, while others, including Shahbaz Gill and former Chief Minister GB Khalid Khurshid, opposed this idea. The party leadership believes the ban on meetings with Imran Khan is a ‘calculated conspiracy’ by the government. Party’s senior leader Sheikh Waqas Akram also asked the government on Sunday to grant permission for meeting with Imran Khan or face protest at the D-Chowk.
The federal government vowed on Saturday to use its “full force” to prevent the PTI from staging a protest coinciding with the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit on October 15. Preparations are underway to welcome around 900 delegates, with the ruling coalition mobilising over 10,000 police and paramilitary personnel to ensure their security. Ministers from the coalition have aggressively criticised the PTI, accusing it of attempting to disrupt the summit and even urging the courts to intervene.