Ex-PM Khan’s party to hold Pakistan-wide protests against constitutional amendments today

ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has called for nationwide protests today, Friday, against the government’s proposed constitutional amendments it alleges are aimed at curtailing the independence of the judiciary and to demand Khan’s release from prison.
The PTI and Pakistan’s legal fraternity have been up in arms over a set of proposed constitutional amendments that the Shehbaz Sharif-led government has been trying to pass since last month. The government rejects PTI’s allegations that it wants to exert more control over judicial appointments and decision-making powers through these amendments.
The proposed amendments are expected to establish a federal constitutional court, raise the retirement age of superior judges by three years and modify the process for the appointment of the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. The PTI says the amendments aim to extend the tenure of Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, widely believed to be aligned with the government and against its chief rival, Khan. The government rejects these allegations.
Several roads leading to the Red Zone, which houses key government and diplomatic buildings, in Islamabad were closed for traffic on Friday, while Section 144, a provision that restricts assembly of four or more people, was imposed by authorities in the federal capital and Pakistan’s most populous Punjab province.
“I appeal to my entire nation to come out of their homes on Oct. 18 and protest peacefully under the ambit of the constitution,” PTI leader Amir Dogar said in a video message.
The Islamabad district magistrate imposed Section 144 in the capital city for two months, prohibiting all kinds of gatherings, rallies and processions at any public place.
“Certain segments of society are planning to organize unlawful assemblies in Islamabad which can disrupt public peace and tranquility,” the order said. “It is necessary to control such types of illegal activities which threaten law and order.”
The Punjab government imposed Section 144 in the entire province on Oct. 18-19.
“In view of the law-and-order situation and threat perceptions, any kind of protest is likely to provide a soft target to terrorists and miscreants which not only poses a security threat but also likely to cause danger to public peace,” the notification read.
The PTI’s announcement for protest came as three major parties, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Jamiat Ulama-e-Pakistan Fazl (JUI-F) announced Wednesday night they had reached a consensus on the amendments.
To pass the constitutional amendments, the ruling coalition needs a two-thirds majority in parliament, something the PTI and lawyers have vowed to take to the streets against.
BAN ON PRISON MEETINGS
Dogar said the party was calling for protests also as Khan was incarcerated on frivolous charges and was not being allowed to meet his lawyers and family members.
The PTI had earlier this week called for protests at the D-Chowk venue in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad against the Punjab government’s move to ban meetings at Adiala prison in Rawalpindi, where Khan has been imprisoned since August last year.
The provincial government said it had imposed the ban due to security reasons ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit following violent Islamabad clashes earlier this month. 
The party later postponed its protest, saying it had done so for the larger national interest as world leaders arrived for the international summit.
PTI’s last protest in Islamabad earlier this month led to clashes between its workers and law enforcement personnel, leading to dozens of arrests and injuries to a large number of cops, one of whom died after being subjected to alleged torture by the protesters.
Khan, jailed since August last year, was ousted from the PM’s office in 2022 in a parliamentary vote of no confidence after what is widely believed to be a falling out with Pakistan’s powerful military, which denies being involved in politics. Since his removal, Khan and his party have waged an unprecedented campaign of defiance against the military.