PM Imran’s sparkly, booming show in Islamabad

Thousands of supporters flocked to the federal capital to attend Prime Minister Imran Khan’s rally as his fate hangs in the National Assembly.

In his two-hour-long marathon speech at a sparkly, booming show in Islamabad – a cradle of his political movement from the ‘container days’ - the prime minister’s appearance seemed to be a fiery effort to lean into the definitive agenda points of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.

Although the prime minister cast himself as waging battle against the “evil”, the real political battle has to be fought inside the National Assembly, starting from Monday.

Moreover, it remains to be seen whether PM Imran’s claim that foreign powers were seeking his ouster will have any impact on the lawmakers who are gearing up to vote on the motion of no-confidence.

Initially, the ruling party had decided to hold the rally right outside the Parliament building located in the Red Zone before changing the venue to the Parade Ground, which is usually occupied by armed forces but was opened for a political rally after a long time.

PTI workers, activists and supporters from across the country thronged to the venue to demonstrate support for the embattled prime minister.

The event remained charged with youthful fervour as people danced to party anthems, clamoured slogans and did not miss any opportunity to cheer loudly to different tunes when the premier was making the speech and taking brief pauses.

Participation of women, young and old, families, children and elderly people was one aspect that is usually missing from the political rallies.

However, just like PTI’s 2014 rally in the capital, it appeared that the core support for PM Imran was still intact. A visit to the rally also revealed that it was attended by more people from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa than any other province.

People arriving from different cities of Punjab explained that massive traffic jams at the toll plazas were one of the reasons for the less participation from Punjab, saying there were long queues at every toll plaza even when Khan was speaking to the rally. They said that no one was there to properly facilitate the supporters coming to express solidarity with Khan.

Among other things, it was also a good day for the business. As they say, every crisis also offers an opportunity for some. Venders selling from water to food items and shirts to providing painting facilities dotted the venue and made hay while the sun shined.

Party flags and colourful banners, along with huge portraits of Imran Khan emblazoned across the venue as well as the roads surrounding it. A sense of festivity suffused the air and a number of young activists continued exploring different areas of the venue and the city.

The first-timers in the capital were more excited to see the city but lamented that most of their time was consumed in travelling than actually visiting different areas of Islamabad.

The apparent drawback of the rally, which drew flak from many, was the ruling party’s decision to not allow private and international media to use professional cameras for covering the rally.