PTI ups the ante ahead of April 9 rally

Warns of escalation if denied rally permission

ISLAMABAD/LAHORE:

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi announced on Thursday that his party will hold a public gathering in Rawalpindi on April 9, highlighting the province's grievances over federal policies and budget allocations.

Addressing a news conference at K-P House Islamabad, Afridi said the provincial government would submit a request for an NOC for the rally. "If the NOC is not granted, each participant will hold the rally at their respective locations," he added.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf is ready to raise the political temperature if it is denied permission to hold a rally on April 9, a date the party says marks "a regime operation" in 2022 that led to the ouster of its now-incarcerated leader Imran Khan's government.

According to PTI sources, the party, after exhausting all democratic and legal options, has now decided in principle to move away from passivity and adopt a 'firmer stance'.

The source claimed that this would not be the first time the party has shifted gears but added this time the stakes are at an all-time high.

The party is fully cognizant of the "state's repressive means", to which its leaders, especially in Punjab, would be subjected ahead of the rally, he added.

He further said that the rally would test the leadership of K-P Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, who will have to outperform his predecessor Ali Amin Gandapur, under whose leadership PTI, even on short notice, had managed to put up decent shows.

The leader said that the party has announced it would hold a rally wherever it is stopped, if it is denied permission for Liaquat Bagh.

However, the actual test of leadership would be to firmly stand its ground while maximising the impact of the rally.

He said that this effort has been designed to secure PTI a place at the high table.

He added that PTI has also decided to partially shift its focus towards other problems confronting the people of the country, after it was felt that the party's official narrative, on the face of it, revolved solely around Imran Khan.

When asked if the K-P chief minister would be able to fill the shoes of his predecessor, he said that is yet to be seen, adding that logistical matters are still under deliberation.

However, a leader from Punjab said that they were not informed of how this effort would be different from previous ones, which ended with even more FIRs against them.

He said that the party should abstain from testing its parliamentarians to their absolute limits. He added that they were ready to go all the way for Imran Khan without giving it any thought, but the "undue sacrifices sought from them are not benefiting anyone".

He added that the Punjab majority would not be able to participate in the rally for obvious reasons, so the responsibility will lie squarely with K-P.

Meanwhile, meetings with the incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan continued to remain suspended on Thursday as authorities yet again stopped party leaders outside Adiala jail.