ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan will gather his supporters today, Sunday, in a pro-government rally in Islamabad that he hopes will be seen as a referendum on his popularity ahead of a no-trust motion against him that parliament is expected to vote on next week.
Opposition parties filed the no-confidence motion on March 8, accusing the prime minister of mismanagement of the economy and bad governance. They have called on him to announce early elections, a demand the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has repeatedly rejected. Since the filing of the motion, as many as 20 lawmakers from Khan's party have defected and key coalition parties have also publicly criticized him.
Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed has said voting on the no-confidence motion would take place on April 3-4.
"History will be made in Islamabad tomorrow, a huge sea of the people will gather in Islamabad," Khan told supporters at a rally in Kamalia, Punjab, on Saturday. "The day will revive the nation. When a nation stands for the right, it is revived."
"I want Pakistanis watching me to know that I want to see you tomorrow at Parade Ground in Islamabad," he added, repeating that March 27 will be a "decisive day" in the country's history.
Amid the hype about Khan's public rally, the PTI said on Saturday evening the media would not be allowed to use professional cameras to cover the gathering since such equipment posed security risk.
However, information minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said later all effort would be made to accommodate the media during the event.
"We have always assisted media persons to execute their duties and a separate enclosure has been established for local as well as international media," Dawn newspaper quoted him as saying.
The PTI had also issued show-cause notices to 13 lawmakers and asked them to appear before the prime minister after they were found at the Sindh House building in Islamabad just days after the no-confidence motion was filed.
Some of these lawmakers also appeared on the media, saying they wanted to participate in the no-trust proceedings and vote according to their conscience.
Responding to the show-cause notices, the disgruntled lawmakers denied the allegations against them as “baseless” and said they did not see any reason why their personal appearance before the prime minister was required.
If he defies the odds, the cricket star-turned-politician who took office in 2018, could become the only Pakistani prime minister in recent history to actually serve a full term.
Sunday's rally will coincide with an opposition march to Islamabad that started from Lahore on Saturday afternoon. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), which leads the march, said it was "the beginning of the end of this incompetent government."
At Saturday’s rally, Khan accused the PML-N of conspiring to oust his government so that his predecessor and the party's supremo, former PM Nawaz Sharif, could return to Pakistan where he is facing non-bailable arrest warrants.
In December 2018, Sharif was convicted of corruption and sentenced to seven years in jail. He has consistently denied the accusations, saying they were politically motivated. Granted medical bail for treatment in London in 2019, Sharif has not returned to the country.
"He (Sharif) will attack Pakistan's judiciary," Khan said. "A corrupt person will never let an independent judiciary function in the country.
"His next attack will be against Pakistan’s army," Khan added. "He's had differences with all army chiefs that were (serving) during his tenure."
Sharif, a former three-time prime minister of Pakistan, has had a strained relationship with Pakistan’s powerful military since the 1990s. His second term as a prime minister ended with a military coup in 1999.
