ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan will assemble at least 1.5 million people in Pakistan's capital city, his aide Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said on Thursday, as Khan leads thousands of supporters towards Islamabad in a protest against the government.
Khan, who has been leading a motorized caravan of supporters from Lahore since Friday, intends to arrive in Islamabad on November 11. The former premier hasn't announced whether he plans to disperse peacefully once he arrives in Islamabad with his supporters or stage a sit-in protest against the government.
Ousted in a parliamentary vote of confidence in April, the cricketer-turned-politician has accused the government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif of conspiring with the US to remove him from office. Washington and the coalition government have both denied Khan's allegations.
The former premier has refused to recognize the government and called on it to announce a date for early elections. PM Sharif has repeatedly rejected his demand and said elections will be held as per schedule late next year. Khan, on the other hand, aims to pressurize the government with his "long march" to announce a date for snap elections.
Speaking to reporters, Hussain said Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party was targeting its supporters in local districts to join the march. He said the former prime minister will arrive in Islamabad from Rawat leading a huge caravan of supporters.
"In Islamabad, we expect to gather between 1-1.5 million people," he said. "This will be the biggest gathering in Pakistan's history," Hussain added.
He said the PTI expected the judiciary to grant it the right to protest against the government.
On Wednesday, Khan said 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 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.”