PTI postpones Lahore rally 'to focus on Islamabad power show'

LAHORE: The embattled Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Sunday postponed yet another power show which was scheduled for August 27 in Lahore after calling off its public gathering in Islamabad three days ago.

The former ruling party's Secretary of Information for Punjab, Shaukat Mahmood Basra, has said that a new date would soon be announced for the Lahore rally after their "power show" in the federal capital on September 8.

He assured that the Imran Khan-founded party would pay full attention to its forthcoming major political event.

The development is being dubbed another dent in the political reputation of the embattled party, which has suffered back-to-back setbacks in holding its political events.

Earlier, the PTI had announced it would rally in Islamabad's Tarnol at any cost, despite the revocation of the no objection certificate (NOC) by the local administration, which also sealed roads leading to the federal capital. Later, the party, in a last-minute move, rescheduled its public gathering for September 8.

PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan announced that the rally had been postponed on the directives of party founder Imran Khan.

Meanwhile, in a recent audio statement, Aleema Khan, sister of the incarcerated ex-premier, resented the move, criticising the PTI leadership for not having any "real intention" of getting the party founder out of jail.

A short audio clip, purportedly featuring the voice of Aleema Khan, is doing rounds on social media, in which a woman can be heard expressing dismay over the postponement of the rally.

She questioned why Azam Swati, a senior PTI leader, visited Imran early in the morning and on whose behest. "Who instructed him [Swati] to meet Imran at 7 am and deliver a message regarding the rally’s postponement?"

Aleema further asked why they were consulting the PTI founder, who is currently incarcerated at Rawalpindi's Adiala jail and came down hard on the party's top brass for dragging their feet on making timely decisions.

However, the federal government's spokesperson on legal affairs, Barrister Aqeel Malik, claimed that the Centre approached Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur for the cancellation of the public gathering.

He also confirmed that the party had been given conditional permission for a rally on September 8.

In a statement, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said this development had exposed cracks within the Imran-founded party, as they would never postpone their power show if there was any chance of its success.

He alleged that the PTI is desperately trying to launch another false narrative to save its diminishing popularity.

The ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader claimed that the incumbent government would protect national unity at any cost and fight those working on a "foreign agenda".