ISLAMABAD: Former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) announced a nationwide protest on Friday, as its top leaders addressed a news conference in Peshawar on Tuesday following the arrest of its lawmakers in the federal capital a day earlier.

The development came after the PTI held a rally on the outskirts of Islamabad on Sunday, demanding the release of the ex-premier who has been in prison for over a year on multiple charges, which he says were concocted to keep him out of the political arena. Clashes occurred between PTI supporters and police, as the rally continued beyond the 7 PM deadline set by the district administration, which deemed it a violation of the party’s agreement with them.

PTI’s detractors also objected to the slogans and some of the speeches, particularly one delivered by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, who warned the government to release Khan within two weeks or his party would free him from the jail on its own.

Subsequently, a group of prominent PTI lawmakers were arrested from the Parliament House, prompting Khan’s party to say it was against the sanctity of the supreme national institution.

“There will be a nationwide protest on Friday, which we will carry out in an organized, disciplined and peaceful manner,” PTI’s new secretary general Salman Akram Raja said during the media talk. “However, it will be a strong protest. Let no one have any doubt about that.”

Raja said his party was fighting for democracy and would take everyone along, describing it as the duty of all Pakistani citizens to come out into the streets and raise their voices.

He maintained that an effort was made to undermine the country’s judiciary before the parliament’s sanctity was violated. He asked rhetorically, if such national institutions were undermined, what options would remain for the people.

Former National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, who was also present at the news conference, noted that PTI’s struggle would continue within the legal and constitutional framework. However, he said its supporters would also come out into the streets, apart from fighting the legal battles in courts and the national parliament.

The incumbent National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq has already taken notice of the PTI arrests and opened an investigation to determine whether they were taken into custody from inside the parliament building.

Under Pakistani law, the concerned judge or magistrate needs to inform the speaker of the reasons for the arrest of an National Assembly member, and lawmakers cannot be arrested within the precincts of parliament without the speaker’s permission.

ISLAMABAD: The government plans to finalize the privatization process of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) by the end of next month, according to a senior federal minister who shared the information while addressing the National Assembly on Monday.
Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar took up the issue of PIA flight restoration to the United Kingdom during his five-day visit to Britain, where he met top government officials and described the issue as a “major priority” for his government.
The suspension of PIA flights to the UK and Europe followed a 2020 plane crash in Karachi that killed 97 people. This was compounded by a controversial statement from Ghulam Sarwar Khan, the aviation minister in former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s administration, who asserted that a significant number of Pakistani pilots held fake licenses, leading to the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) ban on PIA.
The situation also impacted the privatization process of the airline, though Dar said the government would start receiving the first round of bids on October 1.
“Federal Minister for Defense Khawaja Asif informed the National Assembly on Monday that the privatization process of Pakistan International Airlines will be finalized by the end of October,” the APP reported.
He said PIA was facing a debt burden of Rs800 billion ($2.9 billion), adding its flights would not operate on routes that lack financial viability.
The government initially planned to finalize the airline’s privatization deal on the country’s Independence Day, August 14, but it was delayed following requests from bidders who were waiting for PIA’s latest audited accounts, aircraft lease agreements and clarity on flights to Europe.
There are 88 commercially operated state-owned enterprises in the country, and the government has approved the sale of 24 of them in its five-year privatization plan ending in 2029.
The privatization of loss-making state-owned entities is also important due to the recommendation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which has given staff-level approval to a fresh $7 billion loan to Pakistan.