ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has decided in principle to postpone its planned September 27 long march towards Islamabad until October 5, party sources said on ٖFriday.
According to the sources, the decision was taken during an important meeting of the PTI’s political committee, which discussed the party’s protest plans and the prevailing situation ahead of the scheduled march.
The sources said the party would formally announce the postponement after taking opposition leaders, including National Assembly opposition leader Mahmood Khan Achakzai and Senate opposition leader Allama Raja Nasir Abbas, into confidence.
PTI had earlier announced the September 27 march towards Islamabad as part of its campaign seeking the release of party founder Imran Khan.
However, the reported decision to defer the march comes amid heightened security preparations in Islamabad and parts of Punjab. The federal government has authorised the deployment of Rangers in Islamabad and several Punjab districts until October 5 ahead of the planned protest.
The party’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa information secretary, Shaukat Yousafzai, meanwhile said no decision had been taken to call off the march and that PTI remained fully prepared for the September 27 protest.
Yousafzai said the protest would be peaceful and that no government resources would be used.
He said PTI could reconsider its plans if the federal government entered negotiations with the party, but added that the protest would not be ended without securing its demands.
Yousafzai also criticised the government for blocking roads with shipping containers and said protesters would hold sit-ins wherever routes were blocked.
The PTI has demanded implementation of court orders and access for Imran Khan’s lawyers and family members, he said.
The reported postponement has not yet been publicly confirmed by the party leadership, and PTI statements on the timing of the march remain conflicting.
