Jailed former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan's party would hold a protest against the alleged rigging of the February 8 elections in Islamabad on March 30, according to a media report on Saturday.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party founded by a 71-year-old cricketer turned politician believed that the incumbent rulers stole their electoral mandate in the elections and the results were changed to benefit the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).
Earlier today, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur alleged that the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif-led regime stole PTI's seats in the National Assembly.
"The incumbent government at the Centre has been formed after stealing PTI's 180 seats," Gandapur said.
The PTI party has claimed that it won 180 seats in the National Assembly by way of independent candidates backed by the party, however, the rigging ensured that the number was reduced to 92 seats only, thus robbing its chance of coming back to power.
Earlier, the PTI had sought permission from the Islamabad Deputy Commissioner's Office to stage a peaceful public rally in the federal capital later this month.
Meanwhile, the former ruling party moved the Islamabad High Court (IHC) seeking permission for the rally in the federal capital as the city administration did not respond to the party's request. According to the report, the former ruling party wanted to stage a "peaceful protest" rally on the auspicious day.
The former ruling party, however, decided to stage a protest rally against the election rigging in the federal capital on the last day of this month.
Ahead of the public rally in Islamabad, the Khan-founded party will hold a press briefing on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) package and, what it claimed, its negative impacts on the masses and the economy on March 25.
Cash-strapped Pakistan's standby USD 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 USD 1.1 billion earlier this week.
Pakistan will discuss an Extended Fund Facility (EFF) with the IMF in Washington next month, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said earlier today, as the country looks to alleviate a full-scale economic crisis. The fund has advised Pakistan to increase revenue generation.
In addition to this, PTI plans to hold a public rally in Karachi on April 21.
