PTI postpones Islamabad long march to 4 October, but warns it could move sooner

Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has postponed its planned long march from Peshawar to Islamabad to 4 October, party officials announced on Friday, though the party warned it could bring the protest forward at short notice.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi told a press conference in Peshawar that the march, originally planned to begin on 27 September to press for Khan’s release, would now start a week later following formal approval from the party’s political committee, according to Reuters and the Express Tribune.

Khan, 73, was ousted as prime minister by a no-confidence vote in 2022 and has been in jail since 2023, claiming to be a political prisoner.

PTI spokesperson Zulfi Bukhari told Reuters the party could launch the march earlier: “We can now do it whenever we deem fit. The question is to the government, as to how long they’re willing to keep the country closed off?”

Earlier this week, authorities blocked major highways into Islamabad with shipping containers and deployed tens of thousands of security forces. Reuters reports that authorities have detained three of Khan’s sisters and hundreds of activists. PTI’s last large-scale protest two years ago ended in deadly clashes.

Afridi accused the federal government of trying to repeat “May 9”-style action, the Tribune reported, and said a “sea of people” would leave Peshawar on the new date. The Tribune added that PTI’s allies in the Tehreek Tahafuz Ayeen-i-Pakistan (TTAP) had not endorsed the decision as of filing.

Sources: Reuters, Express Tribune, Aaj English