ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan announced to suspend his “fill prisons” campaign on Wednesday after the Supreme Court of Pakistan ruled the provincial polls in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa must be held within 90 days of the dissolution of their legislative bodies.
Khan announced his intention to launch the “Jail Bharo” – or fill prisons – movement at the beginning of February after several leaders of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party were arrested by the authorities on sedition charges after making critical comments against the top military leaders and other government functionaries.
The movement was formally kicked off from the eastern city of Lahore last Wednesday where several PTI leaders voluntarily presented themselves to be arrested and were later taken to prisons in different Pakistani cities.
Political analysts questioned the efficacy of the campaign which removed several prominent PTI leaders from the country’s political arena. However, Khan decided to suspend it after the supreme court issued verdict in the case related to elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
“We welcome the SC [supreme court] judgement,” Khan said in a Twitter post. “It was responsibility of SC to uphold Constitution & they have valiantly done that through their judgement today. It is an assertion of Rule of Law in [Pakistan]. We are suspending our Jail Bharo movement & moving forward with [election] campaigns in KP & Punjab.”
The court gave its verdict in the matter after a controversy emerged over the provincial polls since the governors of the two provinces declined to give dates for fresh elections while sending the matter to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
The two assemblies were dissolved earlier this year by Khan’s PTI party and an allied faction to mount pressure on the federal government to hold early national elections.
Khan has been seeking snap polls in the country since he was ousted from power in a no confidence vote in April last year.
