‘Solo flight': PTI not to press parties to join Raiwind march

"If state bodies continue to remain silent, what other options are we left with other than street protests," Khan

ISLAMABAD: With the opposition parties distancing from the Raiwind march, PTI chief has said there was no reason for him to continue to press on political parties to join the September 30 march, adding that Panama Leaks was a national issue, not a personal one.

In what is being rumoured as annoyance of opposition parties at PTI’s attempts at ‘solo flight’ over the Panama Papers issue, Imran Khan has hit back saying he would not plead anyone to come out on the streets, especially when all the opposition parties had a united stance over the matter.

Imran was of the view that with the party having already extended invitations to the opposition there wasn’t much he could do for their participation.



“As far as the question of them [opposition] being annoyed is concerned I haven’t done anything over which they should be,” he told reporters on Tuesday.  Imran added that every party had the right to make its own decisions.

“If PM Nawaz goes scot-free from this, it will discredit all institutions that serve to provide justice” the PTI chief reiterated. Imran said there was no denying that the party has ‘street power’ and expressed belief that street politics too was part of a democratic process.

“If state institutions continue to remain silent despite our concerns, what other options are we left with other than street protests?”

Despite apprehensions by the PML-N government regarding the nature of the protest, the party has maintained that theirs will be a peaceful protest.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 28^th, 2016.