PESHAWAR: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa President Junaid Akbar has said that the party will hold a public rally in Swabi on the directives of its incarcerated founder Imran Khan on February 8.
The day marks the first anniversary of the last general elections, which the party alleges were rigged, resulting in the theft of its mandate.
“A public rally will be held in Swabi on February 8 on the PTI founder’s call,” Akbar said in a statement, who recently replaced Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur as the party’s provincial president.
The development comes as the former ruling party has also sought permission to hold a public gathering in Peshawar on February 8 which it says would be observed as a “Black Day”.
PTI leader Aliya Hamza submitted an application to the deputy commissioner’s office and sought the local administration’s approval for a public gathering at the Minar-e-Pakistan ground, also known as Iqbal Park, next month.
The opposition party’s prospective return to street politics comes against the backdrop of its negotiations with the government — which now seem to have collapsed after its refusal to attend the fourth round of talks on January 28 citing the government’s failure to form a judicial commission to probe the May 9 riots and November 2024 protests as per its charter of demands.
