When the long march reached Kala Shah Kaku after the return of former Pakistan PM Imran Khan to Lahore, rumors of him leaving the march spread.
When the long march reached Kala Shah Kaku after the return of former Pakistan PM Imran Khan to Lahore, rumors of him leaving the march spread.
Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan has dismissed ‘rumours’ that he is abandoning the long march to hold talks with the government, saying it will not take until officials announce a mid-election date. Till now there will be no conversation.
The long march, dubbed as the ‘Hakki Azadi March’, began on Friday.
On his second day on Saturday, the marchers in Kamoke failed to reach their intended destination, where Mr Khan was to address his supporters.
Rumors of Mr. Khan leaving the march spread after his return to Lahore when the long march reached Kala Shah Kaku.
His Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party general secretary Asad Umar said his Mr Khan had gone to Lahore to attend a ‘very important meeting’.
Mr Khan took to Twitter to debunk rumors of a high-level meeting between PTI and the government being held in Lahore.
“To all those spreading rumors about my meeting in Lahore, the reason for our return was that Lahore was close and we had already decided not to go at night. My only demand for six months is that a date should be given for holding free and fair elections at the earliest. This will be the only demand if talks are to be held,” PTI chief Mr Khan tweeted on Saturday.
PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry told Bol news channel that the movement of the protesters was slow as “thousands of people” were walking with Mr Khan’s container.
“No PTI leader is holding any talks with the government as this task has been entrusted to President Arif Alvi. We will accept the consensus or solution that Dr. Alvi has discovered,” he said.
Mr. Choudhary also said that the talks would not be with the government but with the powerful establishment and the focus of the talks would be elections. “Talks will take place only when the coalition government accepts the demand for mid-term elections,” said Mr. Chowdhury.
As the march was about to take place on the third day of the long march on Sunday, former commerce minister Hammad Azhar said there are plans to reach Gujranwala by the end of the day.
Mr Khan has already announced that the marchers will reach Islamabad on November 4 to hold a rally, for which the government has yet to issue permission.
In his speeches, he has been continuously targeting the government as well as the government.