LAHORE: Though it has yet to announce a date for the launch of the ‘court arrest movement’, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has said that preparations in connection with the drive are in full swing.

According to Senator Ejaz Chaudhry, the PTI leaders and supporters will take out a procession on The Mall — a violation of Section 144 of CrPC — to kick-start the movement and offer their arrests in a “peaceful manner”. Mean­while, PTI chief Imran Khan said that the date for the movement would be announced within a few days.

Senator Chaudhry, who was addressing a press conference at the PTI central office in the provincial capital, claimed that the entire state machinery was trying to block the “constitutional way of holding general elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa” after the dissolution of respective assemblies.

The senator also referred to the ‘historic verdict’ of the single bench of the Lahore High Court in this regard. On Friday, the high court ordered the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to immediately announce the date of elections after consultation with the governor, in his capacity as the constitutional head of the province, to ensure that polls were held not later than 90 days as per the mandate of the Constitution.

Imran says date to be announced within ‘a few days’

Senator Chaudhry, flanked by PTI Central Punjab President Dr Yasmin Rashid, said nowhere in the world were democratic systems “blocked” even in tough circumstances. He cited the example of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoan’s announcement that elections scheduled for May this year would not be delayed due to the devastating earthquake that rocked Turkiye last week.

In Pakistan, all state institutions, including the Election Commission, civil bureaucracy and police were busy giving “lame excuses to delay the elections” which should have been held within the next 62 days as 28 days had already passed since the dissolution of the Punjab Assembly, he added.

“If the incumbent government violates the Constitution, there will develop a very serious situation and that may lead to the imposition of martial law in the country,” he claimed.

Senator Chaudhry questioned whether the establishment had any “internal discipline [mechanism] or accountability”. He asked if the Constitution would continue to be trampled as it has been over the past 76 years.

The PTI supporters would launch a peaceful “Jail Bharo Tehreek” instead of resorting to violence, Senator Chaudhry said, adding, “The PTI will not stop protesting until the general elections are announced.”

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Answering a question, Senator Chaudhry said the PTI leaders and volunteers would court arrests and added that there was a capacity of 64,000 prisoners in Punjab’s jails, while they already housed 84,000 inmates. He said that he would also be going to Peshawar and Rawalpindi to kick start groundwork ‘Jail Bharo Tehreek’.

Speaking at the presser, Dr Yasmin Rashid said the party has a list of volunteers prepared who were ready to go to the jail for the movement. She added that the Punjab governor and state institutions were making “lame excuses” that the country was facing terrorism incidents.

She said “most frivolous” statement was given by the chief secretary, when he said that “elections could not be held because he was required to control prices of daily use items during Ramazan”. According to Ms Rashid who had served as the Punjab health minister, the government was also “busy in finding a way to block the health card to deprive people of healthcare facilities”.

Published in Dawn, February 13th, 2023