ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) plans to prolong its proposed sit-in at the capital’s D-Chowk for an indefinite period or until its demands are met. But party leaders tell Dawn that the demands are still being shaped up decision on what those demands exactly are is still awaited.

The party is also said to be divided over the demand for mid-term elections and certain members have opposed the suggestion as they consider it “ill-timed”.

“We will stay in Islamabad until our demands are accepted,” said Asad Umar, the PTI lawmaker from Islamabad, in reply to a question about his party chief Imran Khan’s recent comments on TV, where he said he would even sleep at D-Chowk with other demonstrators on Aug 14.

Party divided over call for mid-term elections

“Imran Khan has given the call to the whole country. He is not just coming to deliver a speech and go back home,” he added.

Although Imran has hinted at the possibility of turning the long march into an indefinite sit-in, he never put it in so many words before.

Also read: Imran's long march to coincide with govt's Aug 14 celebrations at D-Chowk

Whenever asked about his actual plans for Indepen­dence Day, his response would be that he was coming to Islamabad for a “decisive battle, not just for a public meeting”.

“You can call it an indefinite sit-in, which will continue until we get what we are asking for,” Mr Umar told Dawn.

Party leaders have been saying for the past few days that the time for talks with the government was over and PTI would now present its demands and a “plan of action” on the day of the demonstration.

Mr Umar, however, was unable to explain what specific demands the party would present on Aug 14.

“I leave it to Imran Khan. Let him speak on the matter when the time comes,” he said when pressed for details on the matter.

The PTI chief and his deputy, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, have already hinted that the party may press for mid-term elections.

MID-TERM ELECTIONS: Both have stated in recent interviews that mid-term elections were the “only solution” to rescue the country from the prevailing crisis.

On the other hand, a senior PTI leader and a key office-bearer told Dawn that the issue of mid-term elections had come under discussion several times during party meetings, but there had been no decision on whether the party should include it in its final list of demands.

“Imran Khan’s TV interview was shocking for me as well,” the PTI leader — who is also a member of the party’s core committee — said when asked about the possibility of the demand for mid-term polls.

Asad Umar, however, maintained that asking for mid-term elections was a “legal and constitutional right”. But he refused to speak further on the matter, saying that any statements on this subject may create confusion.

“Please, wait for the appropriate time” was his reply when asked if mid-term elections were the main objective of the party’s Azadi March.

On May 7, in his speech on the floor of the National Assembly ahead of the one-year anniversary of the 2013 elections, PTI president Makhdoom Javed Hashmi made it clear that mid-term polls were not part of his party’s agenda and that the PTI would only exercise its democratic right to protest the alleged rigging in the general elections.

When Mr Umar was reminded of Mr Hashmi’s statement, he said, “This is an old speech. A lot of water has passed under the bridge since then.”

The MNA also refuted Engineer Hamidul Haq’s claim that the party leadership had asked legislators to submit their resignations. He said resigning from the assemblies was one of the options available to the party, but this would be deliberated in a meeting of the party’s parliamentary group, to be held on Monday.

But talking to Dawn, Mr Haq insisted that the party leadership, including Imran Khan himself, had asked its legislators at certain Iftar parties, held last month, to have their resignations ready.

Published in Dawn, August 3rd, 2014