ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan on Thursday announced to hold rallies in different urban centers of Pakistan on Saturday to express solidarity with the Supreme Court chief justice who has been criticized by the government for his recent rulings while leaving Lahore to attend court proceedings in the federal capital.

Since his ouster from power in April last year, the ex-PM has held public rallies to force the country’s ruling coalition to hold early national elections. The government insists the polls will be held in October after the expiry of the five-year term of the national and provincial legislative bodies, though it has held three rounds of talks with the opposition PTI over the issue.

“I’ll lead a rally in Lahore,” he said while sitting in a wheelchair. “Rallies will be held in Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Peshawar. All these rallies will be held on Saturday to tell the chief justice that the whole nation stands with him.”

A three-member apex court bench led by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial ruled on April 4 that polls in Punjab province should be held on May 14 while directing the federal authorities to release funds and provide enough security to enable to the election commission to make necessary arrangements.

However, the government has refused to provide the funds.

The PTI on Wednesday informed the court through a petition that its negotiations with the government to develop a consensus over a unanimous date for national elections had failed while urging the judges it to implement their order to hold the Punjab elections on May 14.

“They [the government] are running away from the elections,” Khan said about Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s coalition government.

“As inflation and unemployment have wreaked havoc in Pakistan, they are afraid of the elections and going against the constitution and the chief justice,” he added while urging the public across the country to come out in the streets on Saturday to express solidarity with the chief justice.

Earlier on Wednesday, Islamabad High Court directed Khan to appear in person on Thursday (today), or else his petition seeking pre-arrest bail in eight cases would be rejected.

Khan’s counsel Barrister Salman Safdar informed the court that owing to pain in his client’s leg, the former premier would not be able to appear before the court and sought an exemption.
However, the court refused to the plea.

“We respect our judiciary,” Khan said while leaving for Islamabad from Lahore, pointing toward the swelling on his foot.

Khan sustained a bullet wound to his leg last year while leading an anti-government caravan to the federal capital.