NewsMay 27, 2022
Imran Gives Six-Day Ultimatum to Govt for Announcing Elections before Disbanding Protest March
By Asif Shahzad
Islamabad: Pakistan's ousted prime minister Imran Khan disbanded a protest march by supporters on Thursday after clashes with police outside parliament, but threatened that they would return unless an election was called within six days.
Khan had rallied thousands of supporters to Islamabad, with plans to occupy sensitive parts of the capital until Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif gave in to his demand for new polls, but Khan told his followers on Thursday morning to step back, while delivering a fresh ultimatum.
"I'm giving you six days. You announce elections in six days," Khan said from atop a truck after he and thousands of his supporters reached the city.
He said parliament should be dissolved to hold elections in June and warned the government that he will lead a march on the capital again if it didn't meet his demands.
Khan's attempt to destabilize Sharif's month-old coalition government risks fueling tensions during an economic crisis that has forced Pakistan to seek urgent help from the International Monetary Fund.
The government convened a joint session of parliament on Thursday to discuss the economic crisis following talks with IMF officials in Doha a day earlier.
The IMF said that considerable progress had been made, but emphasized the urgent need for Pakistan to remove fuel and energy subsidies.
Tear Gas, Baton Charges
Khan has said that the no-confidence vote that toppled him last month was the result of a US conspiracy, and he is demanding a fresh election to show he has national support.
He had reportedly fallen out with the country's powerful military before he was removed by a united opposition, that accused him of mismanaging the government, the economy and foreign relations.
Washington and the Pakistan military have denied playing any part in Khan's downfall.
Pakistan's two main parties, led by the rival Bhutto and Sharif families, partnered up to oust Khan. These two political dynasties have ruled the South Asian nation of over 220 million people several times before, whereas Khan had barely come close to power until he emerged as the winner in the last election nearly four years ago.
A charismatic former captain of the national cricket team, Khan has broadened his appeal to both young and socially conservative older Pakistanis by taking a populist stand on nationalist and religious issues.
His call for a march on Islamabad had prompted the government to seal off main roads leading to the capital, but late on Wednesday the Supreme Court ordered that the barriers be removed, telling the government to designate an open venue for Khan's supporters to gather.
The protesters didn't follow the court orders, however, and hundreds reached the heart of the capital, where they fought running battles with police over several hours before Khan and main body of the rally entered the city.
Police fired tear gas and baton charged the vanguard of the protest march, and detained hundreds of protesters, who had set fire to trees, vehicles, shops, and a bus station on the main thoroughfare leading to parliament.
At least 18 police and paramilitary troops were wounded, said Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb, after dozens of the protesters breached the last line of security outside the parliament.
There were also clashes in several cities in Punjab province and the southern port city of Karachi. - Reuters
According to an AP report, Pakistan's defiant former Prime Minister Imran Khan called off a planned, open-ended sit-in in Islamabad on Thursday, temporarily assuaging fears of a protracted civil conflict after he led thousands on a march toward Parliament and demanded the government's resignation.
Khan's followers began converging on the Pakistani capital on Wednesday, with some 10,000 reaching the city center around midnight. Khan himself entered Islamabad as part of a large convoy of cars, buses and trucks, with demonstrators waving flags and rallying overnight. Some of his supporters clashed with police outside Parliament.
Khan gave Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif — who replaced him in April — less than a week to call for new elections, warning that if his government didn't comply, Khan would return to the capital with three million supporters.
“I am giving you six days,” Khan said from a sound truck parked on the central Jinnah Avenue early Thursday, demanding also the dissolution of Parliament. “If you don’t do it after six days, I will return,” he said.
Hours later, Sharif said he was open to talks with Khan but that any decision about an early vote would be made by parliament. “You cannot dictate to us. No such blackmailing from you will be accepted," he said to applause inside the National Assembly..
Sharif also met with police officers and paramilitary Rangers in Islamabad on Thursday to personally thank them for wisely handling the protesters — without firing a single bullet. Authorities said more than 100 policemen were injured in clashes with demonstrators on Wednesday.
Khan, a former cricket star turned Islamist politician, was prime minister for over three and half years until he was ousted last month by a no-confidence vote in Parliament. Since then, he has held rallies across the country, saying his removal from office was the result of a US organized plot. Washington has denied the allegation, and Sharif has called Khan’s claim "a pack of lies."
On Wednesday, clashes erupted in the eastern city of Lahore, when riot police fired tear gas and pushed back hundreds of pro-Khan demonstrators who hurled stones as they tried to pass a roadblocked bridge near the city to board buses bound for Islamabad.
Dozens of Khan’s followers clashed with police in Islamabad, where the demonstrators set fire to bushes lining a main boulevard, sending smoke and flames rising into the sky. Altercations were also reported elsewhere, including in Karachi, where demonstrators burned a police vehicle.
The government says it has arrested more than 1,700 Khan supporters in the past 48 hours.
Life gradually returned to normalcy across the country on Thursday, after Khan called off the sit-in. That surprised even some of his supporters who continued scuffling with police near the parliament building.
Khan lost his grip on power in April when some members of his Tehreek-e-Insaf party and a key coalition partner defected ahead of the April no-confidence vote, which he also blamed on the United States.
His popularity took a dive in the final months of his rule because of increasing inflation — but in the weeks since his ouster, he has regained some of the losses mainly thanks to his rhetoric against the US and Sharif’s government.
Wednesday's march on Islamabad was Khan's largest rally over the past few weeks. He personally led thousands of supporters from the northwestern city of Peshawar, urging his countrymen to reach Islamabad together with women and children to “liberate” Pakistan from the US-imposed government.
Khan and his party had been urging crowds to march to the square in front of Parliament, where he was to join them. He gave no reason for calling off the sit-in.
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