PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur on Tuesday warned that if the senior most Supreme Court judge was not appointed the chief justice of Pakistan, his party, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, would give a countrywide call for street protests and ask its workers and other people to converge on Islamabad.

“If our [PTI’s] demands, including the appointment of the most senior Supreme Court judge as the next chief justice, the release of [incarcerated leader] Imran Khan, and the return of stolen public mandate to us, are not met, we will go for a final showdown against the government. We’re planning countrywide protests in which our workers and other people from all over the country will march on Islamabad,” Mr Gandapur told reporters during the opening ceremony here for the Peshawar BRT’s extension to Pabbi area of Nowshera district.

The chief minister said that it would be a “do or die situation” for the PTI, which would shut the entire country down.

He added that the agitation would continue until the federal government was ousted.

Says will discuss PTI’s future course of action with Imran

Mr Gandapur said that those calling the shots should make the right judgements to prevent civil unrest.

“If decision-makers think their homes are safe now, they should remember the situation doesn’t remain the same forever,” he said.

Meanwhile, the chief minister warned the federal government against stopping PTI from protesting in future and said if any such attempt was made, sit-ins would be staged where they’re stopped.

“I will meet [PTI founder and former prime minister] Imran Khan in jail for guidance on the party’s future course of action,” Mr Gandapur told reporters on the premises of the high court.

The chief minister said passing the constitutional amendment in the dead of the night was an attack on the independence of the judiciary, which the PTI condemned in the strongest terms.

“We reject such amendments and will continue to protest them,” he said.

Mr Gandapur said that the amendments were meant to appoint the people of the government’s choice to the judiciary to get desirable judgements.

He announced that the PTI was aware of the ‘turncoats and traitors’ in the party and would issue show cause notices to them all.

“Those who have stabbed Imran Khan in the back will be questioned. Time has proved who was loyal to the party and who betrayed it in hard times,” he said.

About the voting in favour of the Constitution (Twenty Sixth Amendment) Act by an independent MNA from Bajaur tribal district, Mubarik Zaib, the chief minister said that his decision of not awarding a party ticket to a ‘turncoat and traitor’ proved correct.

He claimed that Mubarik Zaib had joined the PTI and asked for developmental schemes, so he (CM) released funds, but he sold his vote to betray the people of Bajaur.

“The people of Bajaur should make him (Mubarik) accountable as they had voted for him as he was having a photo of Imran Khan and was wearing the PTI scarf,” he said, adding that he had not sold out his vote rather had sold out the honour of the people of Bajaur.

The CM said the people from KP were brave as they had faced police brutality for over 36 hours, but had reached Islamabad during the recent protest march.

About the security situation in the province, he said when Imran Khan was in power, there was normalcy in the province but the moment his government was toppled, the situation started deteriorating.

“We have taken steps for improving the situation which also include recruitment of more police personnel,” he said.

Mr Gandapur also criticised Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, insisting that she had been complaining against other provinces while failing to control the situation in her province.

He added that while a Punjab minister confirmed the sexual assault of a female student at a private college in Lahore, the chief minister denied the incident and began the blame game.

Published in Dawn, October 23rd, 2024