https://sputniknews.in/20230309/imran-khans-popularity-soars-as-government-issues-arrest-warrant-and-bans-his-rallies-1116785.html
Imran Khan's Popularity Soars as Government Issues Arrest Warrant and Bans His Rallies
Imran Khan's Popularity Soars as Government Issues Arrest Warrant and Bans His Rallies
Sputnik India
As Pakistan faces a political and economic crisis, the people are losing patience with the current government, according to a recent poll.
2023-03-09T17:00+0530
2023-03-09T17:00+0530
2023-03-09T20:49+0530
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The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday issued bailable arrest warrants for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders Imran Khan and Fawad Chaudhry. The commission stated that the PTI chief had sought adjournments by making various excuses not to appear before the court, which they stressed "amounts to a mockery of the law."However, PTI leaders such as Asad Umar, in a televised statement, explained that Khan has multiple threats on his life and he is not appearing in court because he fears the government will fail to protect him.Khan was to appear before a court in Islamabad on Tuesday to respond to charges against him, but he did not show up. His legal team petitioned a top court requesting the suspension of the arrest warrant for him and seeking more time for him to appear before the judge for a pre-trial hearing.After hearing arguments from Khan’s lawyer and the prosecution, the chief justice of the Islamabad High Court, Aamer Farooq, suspended the arrest warrant and ordered Khan to appear before the judge on March 13.In a tweet, Imran Khan said that there are now 76 cases against him.Since his tweet, the cases against him have risen to 78. Some of the cases against Khan include terrorism, blasphemy, and sedition. Despite the many cases against him, Imran Khan announced that his PTI party members would launch an election campaign with a rally."InshaAllah we will mobilize Punjab & KP for record turnout in what will be a historic election. PTI will take on PDM parties & their backers, who should have been neutral umpires, plus state machinery," Khan tweeted two days ago.However, his plan did not go through, because soon after his announcement of a rally, the Punjab government banned any kind of protests in Lahore under Section 144, banning all rallies for 7 days.Punjab Government Bans ProtestsJust hours before the PTI party was scheduled to hold a demonstration in Lahore to launch its campaign for the Punjab provincial assembly election, the government imposed a ban on "holding all kinds of assemblies, gatherings, sit-ins, rallies, processions, demonstrations … protests and such like other activities across the district Lahore to avert any untoward incident."The ban on rallies in Lahore also came just hours before the "Aurat March" ("Women’s March") was to take place to mark International Women’s Day. Since 2018, the Aurat March has been held across all major cities of Pakistan, but this year it was prohibited in Punjab province.Those who took to the streets on Wednesday in support of the PTI got into clashes with police deployed in Lahore. Law enforcement used water cannons and fired tear gas to disperse PTI supporters and arrested more than 40 people for defying the ban on holding rallies, which Khan was scheduled to address.One PTI activist, Ali Bilal, was killed on his way to the rally. Imran Khan took to Twitter to share photos of Bilal and called out the police for killing an unarmed man. He added that the PTI will file murder cases against IG (Inspector General) Punjab and the Punjab police.Despite the political vendetta against Khan and his party members, he is still the most popular leader in Pakistan, as was shown by this week's Gallup Survey.What Do Pakistanis Say?Imran Khan has emerged as the most popular leader in the country as 61% of Pakistanis gave him a positive rating, according to a nationwide survey conducted by Gallup Pakistan.The poll was published this week and was carried out between February 1 and 20.The results show that Khan’s approval ratings jumped considerably from 36% in January 2022.Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's popularity has seen a drop to 32% in February 2023 from 51% in January 2022.Pakistan People's Party chief and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto was rated positively by 36% of respondents, while 57% gave him a negative rating.Pakistan Muslim League (N) Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz was rated negatively by 61%, with just 34% giving her a positive rating."The real news is the major dent in the PML-N leaders’ ratings, which have seen an almost 20 per cent decline in their popularity. The IMF decisions have precipitated the decline, but the reasons were deeper and long term," he added.According to the director, the current government’s popularity has declined due to a changing voter base, with the 18 to 30 age group now making up almost 45% of the total.The political turmoil is happening amid a dire economic struggle in the country. It was reported that almost one in five Pakistanis have either lost their jobs or know someone from their household who is out of work.The inflation last month surged to 31.5%, its highest level since 1974, according to the latest figures released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics on March 1.
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Imran Khan's Popularity Soars as Government Issues Arrest Warrant and Bans His Rallies
17:00 09.03.2023 (Updated: 20:49 09.03.2023) As Pakistan faces a political and economic crisis, the people are losing patience with the current government, according to a recent poll. Meanwhile, former Prime Minister Imran Khan is pushing for early elections despite the fact that his party has been banned from holding rallies in Lahore.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday issued bailable arrest warrants for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders Imran Khan and Fawad Chaudhry. The commission stated that the PTI chief had sought adjournments by making various excuses not to appear before the court, which they stressed "amounts to a mockery of the law."
However, PTI leaders such as Asad Umar, in a televised statement, explained that Khan has multiple threats on his life and he is not appearing in court because he fears the government will fail to protect him.
Khan was to appear before a court in Islamabad on Tuesday to respond to charges against him, but he did not show up. His legal team petitioned a top court requesting the suspension of the arrest warrant for him and seeking more time for him to appear before the judge for a pre-trial hearing.
After hearing arguments from Khan’s lawyer and the prosecution, the chief justice of the Islamabad High Court, Aamer Farooq, suspended the arrest warrant and ordered Khan to appear before the judge on March 13.
In a tweet, Imran Khan said that there are now 76 cases against him.
"Now on the 76th case against me. Well on my way to a century of cases, with the latest case of treason filed against me for highlighting Dirty Harry's use of torture and other human rights abuses," the PTI chair tweeted.
Since his tweet, the cases against him have risen to 78. Some of the cases against Khan include terrorism, blasphemy, and sedition.
In a comment to Sputnik, an overseas Pakistani, Dr. Shahid Rashid, said, "All the cases against Imran Khan are ridiculous and false. It is a clear case of political victimization and the only reason it is happening is because the establishment and primarily both previous and current army chiefs are against him. The army doesn't want Khan to come to power."
Despite the many cases against him, Imran Khan announced that his PTI party members would launch an election campaign with a rally.
"InshaAllah we will mobilize Punjab & KP for record turnout in what will be a historic election. PTI will take on PDM parties & their backers, who should have been neutral umpires, plus state machinery," Khan tweeted two days ago.
However, his plan did not go through, because soon after his announcement of a rally, the Punjab government banned any kind of protests in Lahore under Section 144, banning all rallies for 7 days.
Punjab Government Bans Protests
Just hours before the PTI party was scheduled to hold a demonstration in Lahore to launch its campaign for the Punjab provincial assembly election, the government imposed a ban on "holding all kinds of assemblies, gatherings, sit-ins, rallies, processions, demonstrations … protests and such like other activities across the district Lahore to avert any untoward incident."
The ban on rallies in Lahore also came just hours before the "Aurat March" ("Women’s March") was to take place to mark International Women’s Day. Since 2018, the Aurat March has been held across all major cities of Pakistan, but this year it was prohibited in Punjab province.
Those who took to the streets on Wednesday in support of the PTI got into clashes with police deployed in Lahore. Law enforcement used water cannons and fired tear gas to disperse PTI supporters and arrested more than 40 people for defying the ban on holding rallies, which Khan was scheduled to address.
One PTI activist, Ali Bilal, was killed on his way to the rally. Imran Khan took to Twitter to share photos of Bilal and called out the police for killing an unarmed man. He added that the PTI will file murder cases against IG (Inspector General) Punjab and the Punjab police.
Despite the political vendetta against Khan and his party members, he is still the most popular leader in Pakistan, as was shown by this week's Gallup Survey.
Imran Khan has emerged as the most popular leader in the country as 61% of Pakistanis gave him a positive rating, according to a nationwide survey conducted by Gallup Pakistan.
The poll was published this week and was carried out between February 1 and 20.
The results show that Khan’s approval ratings jumped considerably from 36% in January 2022.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's popularity has seen a drop to 32% in February 2023 from 51% in January 2022.
Pakistan People's Party chief and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto was rated positively by 36% of respondents, while 57% gave him a negative rating.
Pakistan Muslim League (N) Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz was rated negatively by 61%, with just 34% giving her a positive rating.
"Imran Khan’s popularity rests on strong fundamentals of being a charismatic leader, giving slogans that resonate with the public while there is a vacuum in Pakistani politics," according to Bilal Gilani, executive director of Gallup Pakistan.
"The real news is the major dent in the PML-N leaders’ ratings, which have seen an almost 20 per cent decline in their popularity. The IMF decisions have precipitated the decline, but the reasons were deeper and long term," he added.
According to the director, the current government’s popularity has declined due to a changing voter base, with the 18 to 30 age group now making up almost 45% of the total.
The political turmoil is happening amid a dire economic struggle in the country. It was reported that almost one in five Pakistanis have either lost their jobs or know someone from their household who is out of work.
The inflation last month surged to 31.5%, its highest level since 1974, according to the latest figures released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics on March 1.
