Ex-PM Imran Khan begins ‘long march’ for early Pakistan elections

Lahore: Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan launched a so-called “long march” Friday on the capital Islamabad to demand early elections.

The former international cricket star was booted from office in April by a no-confidence vote after defections by some of his coalition partners, but he retains mass public support in the South Asian country.

Thousands of people are expected to join a convoy that will travel around 380 kilometres (240 miles) from Lahore to Islamabad over the next week, stopping along the way to hold rallies and gather more protesters.

Muhammad Mazhar, 36, who arrived in Lahore on Friday to take part, said: “We need to save the country and change this system, so I am supporting Imran Khan.”

PTI members told journalists on Friday that the party was willing to negotiate with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s coalition government if it announced a date for a snap election.

The government says polls will be held as scheduled in October next year. Khan says he is not willing to wait.

The growing crowd of Khan supporters in Lahore chanted slogans including Imran Tere Jannisar, Beshumar, Beshumar”, meaning “Imran, countless people are willing to give their life for you”.

Laila, a mother of two from Toba Tek Singh, a city in the eastern province of Punjab, echoed those sentiments.

“I have come to Lahore to join the long march with my husband and two sons aged nine and 11. I am not concerned about security as Khan is struggling for a better future for my children,” she said, adding that she and her family would go to Islamabad and stay till the end.

Clashes in May protest

As Khan’s supporters assembled in Lahore, large numbers of police were deployed along the 260-kilometres (160-mile) route to Islamabad.

Khan has used this tactic before - most recently in May, weeks after he lost power. But that time police used tear gas after clashing with Khan’s supporters as they approached Islamabad’s sensitive “red zone”, and the rally quickly dispersed.

This time Khan has called on protesters to stay peaceful, and given assurances that he would not enter the ‘red zone’ and the protest remain in areas designated by the courts and local administration, but given the politically charged environment the fears of violence persist.

Security has already been tightened in the capital, with hundreds of shipping containers positioned at key intersections, ready to block marchers should they try to storm the government enclave.

Clashes erupted between Khan’s supporters and police during a similar protest in May.

The march comes as the country’s ruling coalition government struggles to revive a floundering economy and deal with the aftermath of devastating floods that left a third of the country under water - and a repair bill of at least $30 billion.

Khan was voted into power in 2018 on an anti-corruption platform by an electorate tired of dynastic politics, but his mishandling of the economy - and falling out with the military - sealed his fate.

He has repeatedly rebuked the establishment for attempting to sideline him, and has dodged multiple legal challenges since his ouster.

On Thursday, the head of the country’s main intelligence service and chief of military public relations held an unprecedented press conference where they defended the institutions against Khan’s accusations they were meddling in politics.

“I am not afraid of anything including arrest,” Khan said in a video message released Thursday night.

“People want just one role of the establishment... free and fair elections as this is the only way out”.

“I want that all of you participate. This is not for politics or personal gain, or to topple the government... this is to bring genuine freedom to the country,” Khan said.

Khan’s party is in government in two of Islamabad’s neighbouring provinces, Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkwa, and the provincial police forces are expected to be providing security to marchers.