ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday vowed that he would not allow the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to repeat what it did in 2014.
The ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has time and again blamed the PTI for compromising Pakistan’s economy as Chinese President Xi Jinping had cancelled his visit to Islamabad due to the 126-day-long dharna in 2014.
Currently, as the main opposition party’s protests take place in the federal capital, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) head of states’ summit is set to take place on October 15 and 16.
Top officials from China, Russia, India, and other nations who are part of the regional organisation will attend the conference — in Islamabad’s Red Zone — and if a protest is going on in the capital, it will pose a security threat.
“I will not allow the repeat of 2014 […] the conspiracy that took place. We will not allow this, we will not tolerate this at all. This is my promise to the nation,” the prime minister told his cabinet members on Tuesday.
The PTI has said that it is protesting for the “independence of the judiciary” and the release of its founder Imran Khan. The party leaders have said that they will not step back unless the former prime minister asks them.
