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.