In the first phase of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) “Jail Bharo Tehreek, the party’s senior leaders — Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Asad Umar — have decided to surrender themselves to the authorities, Fawad Chaudhry said on Tuesday.
Addressing a press conference in Lahore, PTI’s senior vice president said that PTI Vice Chairman Qureshi and PTI Secretary General Umar have announced surrendering voluntarily to the police.
PTI Chairman Imran Khan on February 4 announced “Jail Bharo Tehreek” in the wake of sedition cases filed against his party leaders Fawad Chaudhry, Azam Swati and Shahbaz Gill.
Fawad welcomed a statement reportedly issued by the ECP that the body was “ready to hold elections in 90 days”. He termed the announcement “a right step in the right direction.”
In the same breath, the PTI leader said that President Arif Alvi set April 9 as the date for the general election in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa — the move rejected by the ruling alliance — adding that the date could not be changed as per the Election Act and the Constitution.
A day after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) excused itself from holding consultations with President Alvi on polls in the provinces, the head of state on Monday (yesterday) announced holding elections in the two provinces on April 9.
Moving towards the upcoming elections in the country, the PTI leader said that the party would start allocating tickets to the candidates from next week. The PTI’s election campaign will reach its peak when Khan will join it within one-and-a-half week.
Chaudhry said that Khan has directed the party to kickstart preparations for the upcoming elections. He urged the PTI’s candidates to launch election campaigns in their respective constituencies.
