ISLAMABAD: Claiming that he never really wanted to shut down the entire country, the leader of the protesting Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) claimed on Monday that he had been forced into adopting this course of action by the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

Addressing supporters from atop his D-Chowk container after returning from Lahore, Imran Khan reiterated that he would carry out his threat to shut down the entire country if the government did not form a Judicial Commission, to investigate electoral rigging, within the next 48 hours.

“When the government was under pressure, it had agreed to our demand for the formation of a judicial commission to investigate rigging in last year’s elections and was about to finalise the terms of reference (TORs) for the commission. But when some pressure was lifted from the government, they backtracked on their commitments,” he said.

He said that the government had to decide whether it wanted to settle this issue through dialogue or otherwise.

Separately, PTI announced its strategy to shut down Islamabad on Dec 18 in keeping Mr Khan’s call for a nationwide strike that day, a statement issued by the party said.

However, the office-bearers announced that no ambulances would be stopped on the day.

They also called on traders from the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad to heed Imran Khan’s call for a nationwide strike and stage a sit-in at the area designated for protests, closest to them.

According to the DawnNews correspondent in Multan, PTI’s local leadership decided that it would shut down the city’s entry and exit points at 10 locations, including Bahawalpur Bypass, Rawan Bypass, Chowk Qaddafi, Vehari Road, Head Mohammadwala and Chenab Pul. The party has also decided to stage sit-ins at 16 different areas within the city.

Published in Dawn December 16th , 2014