PESHAWAR – Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) postponed its planned September 27 long march towards Islamabad, and now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi announcing that the protest will now set off from Peshawar on October 4.
The announcement comes after days of uncertainty over the PTI’s planned march, amid heightened security measures, road closures and restrictions around Islamabad and Rawalpindi. CM Afridi said the party’s future strategy had been finalised and workers would begin the march from Peshawar on the newly announced date.
The decision comes amid delay of more than a week from the original September 27 schedule. Reports had earlier indicated that the PTI political committee was considering shifting the date after reviewing the prevailing situation and government security arrangements.
‘Long march will take place come what may’
Before announcing the postponement, Afridi took a defiant tone during a presser in Peshawar, insisting that the PTI’s long march would go ahead despite barriers placed in its way.
“Whether the government puts up nails, places containers or opens fire, God willing, we will come out,” he said, while declaring that the party would seek an “once and for all” end to what he called the “fake system” and “corrupt rulers.”
KP chief minister also alleged that provincial ministers were being abducted and claimed that unidentified people in plain clothes were involved in firing and abductions. He said the situation in the country required serious consideration.
He also raised questions over what he described as restrictions on PTI leaders’ media appearances. Afridi said PTI parliamentary leader Shahid Khattak had allegedly been barred from appearing in the media despite being a representative from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He further claimed that the KP information minister had also been subjected to a media ban.
“I have just received information that coverage of the KP chief minister has also been stopped. What does this mean?” he asked.
The chief minister also criticised the closure of government operations at the KP Secretariat, alleging that official work had been halted over what he described as a fake security threat. He argued that the secretariat falls within the cantonment area and questioned the basis for the restrictions.
