Imran Khan to lead Islamabad protest to demand fresh elections

NEW DELHI: Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan has asked his supporters to gather in large numbers in the capital Islamabad on Wednesday to force the new government to announce immediate elections.

"I want our entire nation to come to Islamabad, on Srinagar Highway for the Haqiqi Azadi March on 25th May where I will meet you at 3 pm," Imran said in a social media post after a top leadership meeting of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Sunday.

Since his ouster in a no-confidence motion in parliament in April, Imran has been holding mass rallies across Pakistan and has refused to accept what he calls the "imported government" of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

Speaking at a press conference in the city of Peshawar on Sunday, Imran said the Islamabad protest would continue until his demand for new elections is accepted.

"We want fair and impartial elections in this country," he said.

Imran said his current campaign is for Pakistan's "haqiqi azadi" (real freedom) and sovereignty.

"It is not politics, it is a jihad against injustice," he said.

Imran said the Islamabad march will be peaceful and asked the state institutions to remain impartial in his fight against the six-week-old federal coalition government led by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party.

"I also say to our army that you said you are neutral so now remain neutral," he said.

Imran reiterated that the PTI government was ousted through a US regime change conspiracy and the nation of 220 million people was used as a "tissue paper" for trying to pursue an independent foreign policy.

The former prime minister said his Russia visit in February, which has been criticised in the West, was done after consultations with the Pakistan Foreign Ministry, former foreign secretaries and the military leadership but those working to bring him down conveyed to the US administration that it was solely his personal decision.

-- BERNAMA