PTI set to stage 'grand power show' in Islamabad on eve of Independence Day

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Saturday decided to hold a rally in Islamabad on the eve of Independence Day which will "continue into August 14", Express News reported.

This was decided during a PTI political committee meeting chaired by the former prime minister and party chairman Imran Khan. The meeting was attended by senior party leaders including Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Fawad Chaudhry, Shireen Mazari, Usman Dar, Umar Ayub and others.

The meeting mulled over the current political situation in the country. It discussed the legal aspects of contesting from nine constituencies simultaneously as announced by Imran Khan.

Read more: Imran to contest by-elections on nine NA seats simultaneously

Sources privy to the development said that the party has decided to hold a rally in Islamabad on August 13 which will continue into August 14 — the Independence Day of the country.

On Friday, Imran Khan decided to run himself alone for the by-elections for all the nine seats that fell vacant after the National Assembly speaker had accepted the resignations of PTI’s lawmakers.

The ousted premier made his decision public after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) announced the by-polls in the constituencies on September 25.

The PTI chairman's decision to contest the polls for all the vacant NA seats has raised the stakes of the otherwise considered dull by-elections.

Also read: PTI moves IHC over slow progress in NA resignations

The decision to contest the nine NA seats emerged after PTI’s official social media handle and several party leaders shared the news on Twitter, hours after the ECP's announcement.

Soon after the decision was made public, social media was flooded with comments.

They included who the government would choose as its joint candidates for the nine seats as well as would it dare to accept Imran’s challenge by announcing only a single heavyweight in all nine constituencies.

Some others, however, raised the question what would happen if Imran’s nomination papers were rejected on technical grounds as that would give a clear edge to the government’s side.

In 2018, Imran made history after he emerged victorious on five NA seats. Imran had defeated political heavyweights including PML-N’s Saad Rafique in Lahore (NA-131) and former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in Islamabad (NA-53).

He had also won in Bannu (NA-35), NA-243 in Karachi, and his home constituency in Mianwali (NA-95).