Former Pakistan PM Imran Khan will announce mega protest`s date next week

The Election Commission of Pakistan disqualified Imran Khan for failing to inform it about the money he received after selling state gifts, also known as the Toshakhana case.

Islamabad: Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday said he will announce the date for his much-publicised mega protest next week to press for the dissolution of the National Assembly and announce snap polls in the country. Khan, 70, was disqualified on Friday by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for failing to inform it about the money he received after selling the state gifts, also known as the Toshakhana case. Khan made the comments while addressing a press conference along with Senator Azam Swati, who was granted bail by a local court in a case about his controversial tweet against Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa. “I will announce the date of the long march on either Thursday or Friday,” he said.

Khan also confirmed that his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party was having parleys with the federal government, but added that he was not expecting a meaningful outcome from them. “Political parties always hold backdoor channel talks but I don't think this [ongoing talks] will have any meaningful outcome,” he explained. Khan said the current government led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was afraid of holding general elections after suffering defeat in the recently concluded by-polls. He also warned if the federal government tried to stop his “organised protest,” then there would be chaos.  Khan had made calls for the ‘Haqeeqi Azadi March’ (real freedom march) during a meeting held at his Bani Gala residence here on October 3. This will be Khan's second major rally, after the first one, known as the "Azadi Rally," which he had called on May 25, was abruptly called off at the last minute after his party workers arrived at the federal capital.

During Saturday's press conference, Khan also came down heavily on the security officials for allegedly subjecting Swati to custodial torture. “I will raise the matter of Azam Swati at every forum,” Khan asserted. He also asked the Supreme Court to take suo moto notice of this incident. “The Chief Justice must take notice of this incident. If you allow this to continue then Pakistan will be turned into a banana republic,” Khan noted. Meanwhile, Khan has lambasted the ECP verdict in the Toshakhana case, contending that someone else was behind the verdict against him. “One thing is sure he [CEC] cannot give this verdict on his own. Everyone knows that he is a servant of the Sharif family but this should be investigated if he was ‘kicked’ from somewhere else,” he added