Imran Khan’s PTI has announced a protest on April 9, the date the party was ousted from power four years ago following a no-confidence motion. Addressing a press conference at the KP House on Monday, party leaders, including Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and Junaid Akbar Khan, announced that the party would hold a nationwide protest on April 9. They also sought permission to hold a rally at Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi that day, saying holding a public rally is their constitutional right. Afridi said the party would organize a "total protest" to highlight what he calls the suppression of democracy in the country.
"We must show the world that democracy is being stifled," he said, adding that the protest would remain peaceful. He urged authorities to grant permission for the rally, saying the party would manage all arrangements itself, including setting up the stage, sound system and mobilizing workers.
"The government should only issue the NOC; we will take care of the rest," ยป he declared. Junaid Akbar Khan said preparations had already begun and party leaders across the country, including in Peshawar, had been instructed to mobilize workers for their participation. He warned that if permission was refused, demonstrations would take place wherever party activists were present. Sohail also sharply criticized the federal government’s policies, warning against any further military operations and highlighting what he described as a sharp economic decline over the past four years. Afridi said military operations had not solved problems in the past and would not do so in the future. He noted that 22 major operations and thousands of intelligence-based operations had been carried out, but lasting peace remained elusive.
"We are politicians, not armed groups." he said.
