ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan said on Wednesday he was not willing to accept the current political administration of the country and was even willing to continue his anti-government drive in the coming months until elections were announced. 
Khan, who is also the chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, is leading a motorized caravan to Islamabad with a large number of supporters to demand snap elections. 
The former premier, who was ousted from power in a no-confidence vote in April by the present ruling coalition, began his protest match from Lahore’s Liberty Market on Friday, October 28, and announced his decision to reach the federal capital exactly after a week on November 4. 
However, his senior party leaders said on Wednesday the march would reach its destination on November 11. 
Khan, who has frequently accused his political rivals of plundering the country, told his party supporters he would not abandon his movement against the coalition government. 
“I will never accept them [as the country’s legitimate ruler],” he said. “No one should be under this illusion that our movement will end after we reach Islamabad. This movement will continue for another 10 months until [the next general] elections.” 
The PTI chairman, who traveled through Pindi Bypass, Rahwali and Ghakhar after leaving Gujranwala during the day, maintained that some “hidden hands” had been protecting “big thieves” from accountability in the country while leading the march to Islamabad. 
“Our country cannot progress unless there is justice and rule of law,” he continued while pointing out that he tried his best for the conviction of corrupt politicians during his stint in power. 
“But there were hidden hands and they were not convicted,” he said. “We could not do anything because [the country’s anti-corruption watchdog] NAB [National Accountability Bureau] was not in my control. Those who were controlling NAB protected these thieves and imposed them on us.” 
Khan maintained all government officers investigating corruption cases against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif died one after another, though there was no investigation to ascertain their cause of death. 
The PTI chairman said the cases against Sharif, his son Hamza, and former president Asif Ali Zardari were also dropped after the government amended the accountability law under which only “small thieves” could now be arrested. 
“We all are heading to Islamabad for justice,” he said. “You all have to reach Islamabad for jihad.” 
Addressing a news conference earlier, Khan’s close aide, Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, said his party would keep changing the plans and dates on which the protest march would arrive in Islamabad “to tire the government out.” 
“We will give a date to reach Islamabad and then change it,” he said, adding the protest caravan would keep moving toward the federal capital at its own pace. 
“You will have to do the guesswork daily,” he responded to the government criticism of why the march was proceeding so slowly. 
The party secretary-general Asad Umar said on Wednesday the anti-government caravans from all over Pakistan would reach Islamabad on November 11. 
“According to the new schedule of the ‘Haqeeqi Azadi March,’ the captain [Imran Khan] will arrive in Rawalpindi on November 10 and convoys from all over Pakistan will reach Islamabad on November 11,” he wrote on Twitter. 
Khan, who has won a string of by-elections over the past couple of months, has said the government is afraid of his surging popularity and is running away from elections. He has also maintained transparent polls were the only solution to Pakistan’s economic crisis and political instability. 
Sharif and his coalition government have rejected Khan’s demand and said that elections will be held late next year, as per schedule. 
The PTI has yet not clarified whether Khan will lead a sit-in protest or ask his supporters to disperse peacefully after arriving in Islamabad. 
“I will give you a plan after reaching Islamabad,” Khan told his supporters on Tuesday.