SWABI: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf will hold its first and last power show here on Saturday (today) in connection with the Feb 8 elections, former National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser said on Friday.

He said they had invited party’s senior vice-president Sher Afzal Marrwat to attend the gathering, planned on the Swabi-Mardan Road in the district headquarters, as the chief guest.

Mr Qaiser said numerous hurdles were created for the party, but they had backfired because people’s sympathies were with PTI. He hoped the district administration won’t create obstacles for them to hold the power show.

Meanwhile, addressing a campaign rally on Friday, Mr Qaiser said PTI got into trouble after Imran Khan refused to give the US military bases in Pakistan. He said no other party had the courage to annoy the US.

Mr Qaiser claimed the PTI government had adopted an independent foreign policy and Imran Khan.

Meanwhile, PTI district president Sohail Yousafzai told Dawn said the party would go ahead with its planned power show despite the district administration had refused to permit it. He recalled earlier the administration also didn’t grant permission to PTI to hold a workers’ convention.

The local PTI leadership is under pressure to make the gathering a success as about four days ago when party’s founder Imran Khan gave a call for a protest, they couldn’t organise it.

“There is no doubt that we are going through very difficult times and our leaders do not know what to do and how to run the election campaign,” said a leader on condition of anonymity.

Various other leaders remarked that the Saturday’s gathering would be the first power show of the party since the May 9, 2023 incidents. The PTI leaders expressed the hope that the party would do well during the upcoming elections just like the 2018 polls.

Published in Dawn, February 3rd, 2024