The Islamabad administration on Sunday refused to allow the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to hold a public rally against the alleged vote rigging in the February 8 general elections, citing security reasons.
The development came before the expiry of a two-day deadline set by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) for the district administration to make a decision on the PTI’s plea seeking permission to hold a public gathering in Islamabad at the month end.
Jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s party had moved the court, alleging that the capital city administering was unresponsive to their request and sought its order in this regard.
In a statement, PTI regional president Aamir Masood Mughal confirmed the development and announced that his party would again approach the IHC. He said, “If you can’t provide security even in the capital, then you have no right to stay in the government.”
Khan’s party believed that the incumbent rulers stole their electoral mandate in the elections and the results were changed in Form 47s to benefit the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).
The former ruling party would hold a press briefing on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) package and its impact on the masses and the economy tomorrow (Monday) as decided at a PTI core committee meeting on March 22.
Cash-strapped Pakistan’s standby $3 billion arrangement with the global lender expires on April 11, and the two sides reached a staff-level agreement regarding the disbursal of the final tranche of $1.1 billion earlier this week.
