ISLAMABAD: As part of its ongoing mass contact campaign on the Panamagate issue, the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has decided to hold two more public meetings in Punjab by the end of this month.

According to a press release issued by the party here on Saturday, PTI chairman Imran Khan will address a public gathering in Kasur on Jan 22 and another in Sahiwal on 29.

Mr Khan is in Dera Ghazi Khan to address a public meeting on Sunday (today). He already spoke at a public meeting in Bahawalpur on Jan 8.

PTI secretary general Jahangir Tareen said in a statement that Mr Khan had decided to escalate the mass contact campaign besides putting the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) under pressure in the Supreme Court.

Mr Tareen said that the PTI would intensify the drive after the Sahiwal gathering, adding that 2017 would be the year of change in Pakistan.

“Future will be of Pakistan and its 18 million people and the PML-N’s gang of liars have no right to lead such a great nation,” he said.

The PTI leader said that a fresh report of the BBC about the foreign properties of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family had revealed the truth and Mr Sharif now had no reason to cling to office. “According to the nation’s aspirations, accountability is the last and only option,” he said.

Meanwhile, the PTI has said in another press release that Mr Khan has approved the decision to launch a nation-wide campaign with the title ‘Haq Ki Baat Sab Kay Sath’. The main purpose of the movement is to raise public awareness about their fundamental, democratic and constitutional rights. Besides, the government’s ‘unconstitutional and anti-democratic measures’ will be exposed during the drive. A documentary film has been made and it will be releases on mass and social media.

The responsibility of running the campaign in and outside the country has been given to a senior leader of the party, Andleeb Abbas, and her team.

The decision to launch a mass contact campaign on the Panama Papers issue was made by the PTI’s political strategy committee last month.

Sources said that the PTI had for the time being decided to keep its focus only on Punjab, particularly the areas considered to be strongholds of the PML-N.

Published in Dawn, January 15th, 2017