Lagatar24 Desk
Islamabad, Nov 27: The former prime minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan said on Saturday that his party was leaving both the nation’s national and regional assemblies as he made his first public appearance since suffering gunshot wounds earlier this month.
A no-confidence vote in Parliament in April resulted in the resignation of Khan, a former cricket player who became a politician.
He is currently in the opposition and has been calling for early elections, saying that Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif staged his removal with the assistance of the American administration. The charges have been rejected by Sharif and Washington, and according to the current administration, the upcoming elections will go place in 2023 as scheduled.
Late last month, Khan began his protest march from the eastern city of Lahore toward Islamabad. However, he stood down from physically leading the convoy after being shot by a gunman who opened fire at his vehicle. In the incident, one of Khan’s supporters was murdered and 13 others were hurt. The shooter was detained.
On Saturday night, Khan re-joined the protest march in Rawalpindi, a city close to Islamabad.
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His Tehreek-e-Insaf party was leaving all regional and national Assemblies, he announced to tens of thousands of cheering followers, and was abandoning this “corrupt system.”
Before a vote to choose a new Prime Minister, his party abruptly resigned from the national legislature in April, albeit the majority of the resignations have not yet been accepted. Since Khan’s heartland is in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in the northwest, abandoning the Punjab parliament would give his adversaries the reins of power.
The politician spoke for more than an hour, mentioning the Sufi mystic Rumi, the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and the Shiite leader Imam Hussain of the 7th century.
He reversed course on his demand for immediate elections toward the end of his speech, asserting that his party would triumph in the nine-month election. He also declared that he would stop marching in the capital. Khan said he will meet his chief ministers and parliamentary party and announce the timing of the exit.
