Pakistan: Ahead of protest rally, Imran Khan reaches parade ground

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan in Parade ground (Twitter: PTI official handle)

Islamabad [Pakistan], July 2 (ANI): Ahead of the rally in Islamabad, former Pakistan Prime Minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan visited the Parade Ground.

Earlier, the PTI had received permission from the Islamabad district magistrate’s office to hold a rally in the federal capital on Saturday.

According to a notification, cited by The Express Tribune, PTI was given “permission to use the venue” of Parade ground by “related concerned”.

The notification was also sent to the chief commissioner of Islamabad, the IGP and deputy IGP Islamabad, senior superintendents of police for traffic and operations and the assistant commissioner of the industrial area, The Express Tribune reported.

Meanwhile, former Prime Minister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan has announced that his party will approach the Supreme Court on Friday (today) against the Lahore High Court’s decision to conduct Punjab Chief Minister’s election again, saying that free and fair elections cannot be held with Hamza Shehbaz in the chair.

PML-N’s Hamza was “elected” as the new Punjab Chief Minister on April 16, securing 197 votes while his rival candidate PML-Q Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi declared the polls “illegal”.

Later, the Election Commission of Pakistan disqualified 25 PTI MPAs for deviating from party policy, which is against the Constitution, and voting in favour of Hamza.

Responding to a question on how Shehbaz could remain the Chief Minister when the court agreed that the electoral process was “flawed”, Khan said that PTI has decided to challenge the Lahore High Court’s verdict in the apex court to delay the election process, reported The News International.

Imran took exception to the LHC’s decision of holding the Punjab CM’s re-election within 24 hours, saying that six of his party’s MPAs had gone to perform Hajj and within 24 hours, even people from Rajanpur and far-flung areas will not be able to make it in time. “So, free and fair elections cannot be held,” he added, The Express Tribune reported.

A five-member LHC bench headed by Justice Sadaqat Ali Khan announced the verdict 4-1 on pleas filed by PTI against Hamza’s election as CM.

Hamza was elected as Chief Minister of Punjab in a ruckus-marred session of the Punjab Assembly on April 16, 2022.

The PTI and PML-Q had challenged the election of Hamza Shahbaz in a chaotic session, reported The News International. (ANI)

This report is auto-generated from ANI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.