The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Friday announced its boycott of the legislation house until the release of its founder Imran Khan who was serving jail sentences in different cases such as Toshakhana, cipher and unIslamic Nikkah.
“Neither we do any legislation, nor we let it be done until Imran Khan is released,” said PTI leader and Sunni Ittehad Council’s (SIC) lawmaker Junaid Akbar in a fiery address to the second session of the newly elected National Assembly.
He said the PTI did not recognize the incumbent assembly issuing a warning of disrupting the business of house if their leader was not released.
The PTI alleged that its mandate was stolen during the February 8 general elections, labeling the polls as “rigged” and accusing the caretaker government of creating an uneven playing field in the lead-up to the elections.
Taking aim at the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Akbar regretted house trading of the then opposition coalition for ousting Imran Khan from the power.
He further highlighted the alleged discrimination against the PTI, stating that his party was stripped of its electoral symbol, the ‘bat,’ in the aftermath of the May 9 riots that erupted nationwide following the arrest of the deposed prime minister in the £190 million settlement case, resulting in the incarceration of hundreds of PTI workers and leaders for their involvement in violence and attacks on military installations.
During the protests, civil and military installations, including Jinnah House and the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi, were targeted. The military, labeling May 9 as a “Black Day,” decided to try the miscreants under the Army Act.
Akbar also accused the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) of providing inappropriate election symbols to PTI-backed independent candidates.
Slamming the establishment, he claimed that two assassination attempts were made on Imran Khan’s life, resulting in the death of 34 PTI supporters on May 9.
Furthermore, FIRs were lodged against the leadership of the Khan-founded party, and sedition cases were registered against Akbar and his associates.
