Imran Khan gives the government six days to approve early elections

Islamabad – AFP
Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan gave the Pakistani government six days to approve early elections after ending a rally of thousands of his supporters in Islamabad, Wednesday night and Thursday night. On Wednesday morning, the Pakistani police closed the entrances to the capital and placed them under heavy guard to prevent the march from reaching.
The march was punctuated by clashes in several places, and the police used tear gas when the demonstrators tried to cross the barriers. Late on Wednesday evening, the Supreme Court issued a ruling obligating the police to allow protesters to reach the capital.
Parliament ousted Imran Khan on April 10 with a no-confidence vote. His party, the Insaf Movement, has since been trying to mobilize the street to escalate pressure on the coalition government to push it to call for early legislative elections.
After a tense day and night, the former cricket star addressed a few thousand supporters gathered in the center of the capital, fewer than he had expected.
He said, “The message I want to send to this “imported” government is that it must approve early elections within six days, dissolve councils and call for elections in June.” He warned that he would call for new gatherings next week if the government did not respond. Then he called his supporters to end the march.
After that his supporters dispersed quietly and traffic resumed in the capital, while the situation returned to normal in the rest of the country.
Political analyst Qamar Shema said the move was a failure for Imran Khan, as police repression prevented his supporters from staying on the street as long as he expected.
Cheema estimated: “With only 30,000 protesters, staying in Islamabad to face the police was not a good idea. If Khan had succeeded in gathering a larger number of protesters, he would not have given the government a deadline, because he does not have negotiating power.”
The government had announced, on Tuesday, that it would prevent this move aimed exclusively at “creating a rift and chaos in the country.”
The elections are supposed to take place in October 2023, which is the date by which the mandate of the elected Khan should have ended in 2018. It seems that the government of Shahbaz Sharif, after hesitation, decided to try to improve the economic conditions of the country before organizing elections.
During the past three years, the deteriorating economic and security situation cost Imran Khan his position, and the Pakistan Muslim League led by Sharif and the Pakistan People’s Party led by the Bhutto family returned to power in a coalition government. These two rival parties have dominated political life for decades.
At a time when the situation was deteriorating at several points, the Supreme Court intervened in the evening and ordered the government to allow the marchers to gather in the capital, but away from fortified government centers, provided that the movement was maintained peacefully. Early on Wednesday evening, the court had ordered the release of those arrested in the past 24 hours, and called on the government and the opposition to negotiate to organize a peaceful and safe march in the capital. Police arrested 1,700 Khan supporters during Tuesday night’s raids, according to the interior minister.
Khan joined the movement on a show by landing his helicopter on a highway among his supporters in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, which is ruled by his party.