PESHAWAR: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has decided to postpone its planned long march on Islamabad until October 5, according to party sources.
The decision was taken during a meeting of the PTI Political Committee following consultations over whether to proceed with the march on its previously announced date of September 27.
Party sources said the political committee ultimately agreed to defer the march until October 5, with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi expected to formally announce the decision.
Earlier, Afridi had said the march would go ahead despite road blockades and other measures at the K-P boundary.
“Our long march will definitely take place. This time, we will definitely come out,” Afridi said during a press conference at the Chief Minister’s House in Peshawar.
The chief minister criticised the placement of nails on roads at the K-P boundary, questioning whether the measures were aimed at restricting movement between the province and the rest of the country.
“No matter how many nails they put in the roads, this long march will not be stopped,” he said.
Afridi also criticised what he described as a narrative portraying one province as facing threats from the other three provinces. He alleged that officials and police personnel from other provinces were entering K-P and confronting the provincial administration.
He further claimed that K-P ministers were being taken away by people in plain clothes and that the province was being pushed in a different direction.
Commenting on the closure of the provincial secretariat following a security alert, Afridi questioned why government operations had been suspended despite the area being under security control.
He said he had personally reopened the mosque inside the secretariat after it was closed over the reported security threat and offered prayers there. Afridi also toured the premises and urged residents of K-P not to be afraid.
“Till your CM is with you, no one will look at the province with an evil eye,” he said.
The PTI political committee had been considering proposals to postpone the march before reaching its final decision.
Following the press conference, Afridi left for Charsadda to attend a meeting.