PTI will resign from all assemblies, announces Imran Khan

PTI Chairman Imran Khan thanked his supporters for joining his long march after he announced not to move forward to Islamabad.

Taking to Twitter, Khan said: "I want to thank all the people who came in such huge numbers from across Pakistan to our Rawalpindi Azadi March yesterday."

"Our Tehreek will continue until we establish rule of law and real freedom," he added. 

ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Saturday said that the politics of pressure groups died today.

Speaking during Geo News programme Jirga, the minister said: “Now, the politics of blackmailing and pressurising has ended. PTI Chairman Imran Khan first did an aerial observation of the jalsa from a helicopter. When he saw that people did'nt shown up, he announced to dissolve the assembly as a punishment to both the chief ministers.”

Sanaullah added that the PTI did not seek permission to hold a jalsa in Islamabad.

“We did not prohibit the jalsa. We offered conditions asking for signatures,” the minister maintained.

LAHORE: Expressing allegiance to its coalition partner, the PML-Q-led Punjab government Saturday affirmatively responded to PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s decision to quit all the assemblies.

Taking to Twitter, the PML-Q leader Moonis Elahi wrote his party emerged triumphant on July 27 and Chaudhry Pervez Elahi became the chief minister.

“Since that day, we have been running on bonus. We stand by our promise. The day Imran Khan would ask, we will dissolve the Punjab Assembly,” Elahi tweeted.

In his first address after surviving the Wazirabad shooting, Khan surprised a charged crowd of his supporters in Rawalpindi by announcing the party would no more be a part of the legislative system of the country.

RAWALPINDI: PTI Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry Saturday shared that after PTI’s resignations, elections will be held on a total of 563 seats across the country.

Taking to Twitter, the party’s leader said: “In Pakistan, elections are directly held on a total of 859 seats.”

He added that as a result of PTI’s resignations general elections will be held on a total of 563 seats, which include:

• 123 seats in National Assembly
• 297 seats in Punjab Assembly
• 115 seats in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly
• 26 seats in Sindh
• 26 seats in Balochistan

Earlier today, PTI chief Imran Khan — in his party’s rally in Rawalpindi — announced that his party would resign from all assemblies and they won’t be marching toward Islamabad any longer.

ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Saturday said PTI Chairman Imran Khan “cannot dissolve both [Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab] assemblies”.

“Khan will not be able to decide about dissolving the assemblies,” he said during Geo News programme 'Naya Pakistan'.

The PML-N stalwart added that the PTI cannot do so if no-confidence motion is moved.

“Do they think the Opposition will sit watch?” the interior minister questioned, adding that elections should be held on time and assemblies should remain intact.

Sanaullah also said that Khan’s decision to dissolve assemblies is his “announcement of defeat”.

“Had [Imran Khan] marched toward Islamabad only 500,000 to one million people would have showed up. Khan decided against marching toward Islamabad as people did not arrive at the jalsa,” the minister said, stressing that the PTI chief announced to quit assemblies to avoid embarrassment.

PTI chief Imran Khan left for Noor Khan Airbase after addressing thousands of supporters at his first public appearance since being shot earlier this month in an assassination attempt.

Sources told Geo News that Khan will continue his political activities from Zaman Park, Lahore.

Convoy of Khan’s vehicles left for Expressway Highway via Murree Road Faizabad. After his convoy passed the area, Islamabad Police once again closed the area by putting containers.

PTI Chairman Imran Khan, in a surprise move, Saturday announced that his party has decided they will not be part of “this system” and will quit all the assemblies.

Addressing a charged crowd in Rehmanabad, Khan said that they will not remain a part of the current political system and will instead resign from all the assemblies.

It should be noted that Khan’s PTI is in power in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.

He further added that instead of creating havoc, PTI has decided to walk out of the assemblies. However, Khan said that he will announce the exact date in next few days.

He added that he has spoken to his chief ministers and will hold discussions with the parliamentary party about the matter and would soon make the announcement about when the party would leave the assemblies.

Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan Saturday said that the country’s history will attest that he kept on fighting till the last ball for Pakistan.

“I also want to say that those who saw a massive rise in their assets and trampled the nation’s rights… history is also looking towards him and writing down what he did with the country.”

He reiterated that his party did not come to Rawalpindi for politics. Rather, Khan said it was the need of the country to have fresh elections.

The PTI chairman boosted that whenever the elections are held his party would win them; but the issues will continue to increase as economic stability is dependent on political stability.

Former prime minister Imran Khan, during his party’s power show in Rehmanabad on Saturday, said Pakistan is standing at a “defining point”.

Addressing the charged crowd, Khan admitted that it was difficult for him to travel with an injured leg. When he was setting out from Lahore, the PTI chief said, everyone had advised him not to do so due to his injured leg as well as the threats to his life.

Khan said he had seen death closely after the attack on him. “When I fell down, I knew Allah saved me,” the former premier said.

The PTI chairman further added that the coalition government has been constantly trying to “humiliate” him time and again because he called them thieves.