Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan is expected to address thousands of supporters on Saturday to call for a snap election, in his first public outing since surviving an assassination attempt he blames on his successor. .
The November 3 attack, in which the ex-prime minister was injured in the legs, is the latest development after months of political tensions. The crisis began when Imran Khan was ousted from power after a vote of no confidence in the National Assembly.
Saturday’s rally in Rawalpindi, a city bordering Islamabad, is the most important stage of a “long march” organized by his party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI, Pakistan Justice Movement) with the aim of pressure the government to obtain early elections before the expiry of the mandate of Parliament next October.
“My life is in danger and despite my injuries I am going to Rawalpindi for the nation,” PTI tweeted on Saturday morning quoting Mr Khan. “My nation will come to Pindi (short for town) for me”.
The rally will take place in a large open area between the capital and Rawalpindi, a garrison town that houses the army headquarters.
Convoys of PTI supporters poured in from all over the country on Saturday morning. Party flags floated on buses, trucks and cars.
The authorities have put in place a vast security device around the capital to prevent supporters of the former international cricket star, converted into politics, from walking on government buildings. Thousands of security personnel were deployed and roads were blocked by containers.
“Alert red”
Protests organized by Khan, 70, in May escalated into chaos: the capital was blocked and clashes broke out across the country between police and protesters.
The police said that any attempt by PTI supporters to enter Islamabad would be firmly suppressed this time around.
Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, who Mr Khan says is involved in “the assassination plot” like current Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and a senior military official, issued a “red alert” on Friday, warning against security threats caused by the gathering.
“The PTI still has time (to cancel),” he said, citing the Pakistani Taliban and al-Qaeda among the extremist groups that could go after Mr Khan.
The government claims that the attempted assassination of the latter was the work of a single man currently in detention. Police have released a ‘confession’ video of this junk shop owner in which he says he acted because Imran Khan was against Islam.
Saturday’s rally comes two days after the government named a former spymaster as its next military chief.
The appointment of General Syed Asim Munir has ended months of speculation for a post long considered the real power in the nuclear-armed Islamic nation of 220 million.
Syed Asim Munir served as head of the all-powerful Military Intelligence (ISI) under Khan, but his tenure ended after just eight months.
The Pakistani army, the sixth largest in the world, has considerable influence over the country. It has staged at least three coups since independence in 1947, remaining in power for more than three decades.