Imran Khan to hold public gathering in Islamabad against govt

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is set to hold a huge public gathering at Parade Ground in the capital city of Islamabad on Saturday amid the worsening economic crisis in the country.

Aside from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief, the Islamabad jalsa would be addressed by other senior leaders of the party. Khan will himself lead a rally from Rawalpindi to the Parade Ground venue, ARY News reported.

"InshaAllah tomorrow will be our historic Islamabad jalsa at Parade Ground against Imported govt's pol destabilisation & crushing our people under the burden of excessive load shedding in peak of summer & spiralling fuel prices. I will be leading a rally from Pindi to Parade Ground," Imran Khan tweeted on Friday.

"Instead of buying cheaper oil from Russia Imported govt, brought in by US regime change conspiracy, continues to put unbearable burden on people while giving themselves NRO2 worth Rs 1100 bn. Total increase Rs 99 for petrol, Rs 133 for diesel. Join our protest ag this tomorrow," he said in another tweet.

Earlier, the PTI had received permission from the Islamabad district magistrate's office to hold a rally in the federal capital on Saturday. The PTI was given "permission to use the venue" of Parade ground by "related concerned", The Express Tribune cited a notification.

Imran Khan was ousted from power after losing a no-confidence vote, which he alleged was part of a US-led conspiracy targeting him because of "independent" foreign policy. Even after his ouster, the former PM has continued with foreign conspiracy tirades at every rally.

This rally comes as Pakistan stands on the brink of financial collapse. The Shehbaz Sharif government on Friday said the energy prices will keep increasing in the country for the next three to four months due to policies implemented by Imran Khan.

Addressing separate pressers in Islamabad, the Pakistan energy ministers -- Khurram Dastgir and Musadik Malik -- said the downward trend will not start before November-December this year.

They said the PTI government had tied their hands with legal compulsions for price and there was no way out of the quagmire before the completion of corrective reforms, the Dawn newspaper reported.

The Pakistan ministers claimed that Imran Khan's government kept delaying price adjustments for electricity and natural gas and changed laws before leaving to ensure the new government was left with no choice but to clear the backlog.

According to the Shehbaz Sharif government, the PTI government did not arrange LNG, coal and furnace oil imports when their prices were at their lowest and international lenders were providing cheaper loans to sustain the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.