Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah announced that the federal cabinet had decided it would not allow the PTI to hold its planned long march to avoid “chaos and disorder” in the guise of the march.
During a press conference in Islamabad along with coalition leaders, Sanaullah said the participants would be stopped so they could not propagate their misleading agenda.
The federal government has decided not to allow PTI to hold its long march towards Islamabad and participants of the long march will be stopped. The cabinet has decided not to let PTI go ahead with its long march to avoid the spread of "Fitna" and "Fasad".
— Rana SanaUllah Khan (@RanaSanaullahPK) May 24, 2022
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Talking about the death of a policeman during a raid in Lahore, the PML-N leader said, “These people (PTI) have moved from abuses to bullets.”
Constable Kamal Ahmad was killed last night during a police raid in Lahore’s Model Town.
He said the PTI wants to use Khyber Pakhtunkhwa resources and personnel to “come and attack the federation”.
He said the march is not democratic, adding that “They want to come as a mob that has no legal or constitutional status, this cannot be allowed.”
Sanaullah said everyone had the right to freedom of expression and peaceful protest. However, he said the PTI did not want a peaceful protest. “Had they not called it a bloody march and talked about spreading anarchy, we would not have stopped them.”
The interior minister said that former prime minister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan wanted to divide the nation, warning the PTI supporters not to be misled.
He vowed to protect the lives and properties of the capital’s people “at all costs” and claimed that the situation would be normalised by 10 pm tomorrow.
JUI-F’s Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Hyderi, PPP’s Qamar Zaman Kaira, and Jamhoori Watan Party’s Shahzain Bugti affirmed the decision to stop the long march had been taken through consensus.
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On the other hand, Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz apologized to the people of Punjab for measures that would be taken to stop the march.
بات گالیوں سے بڑھ کر گولیوں تک آچکی ہے۔کانسٹیبل کمال کا PTI کارکن کے ہاتھوں قتل فساد پھیلانے کی سازش ہے۔قانون سے کھلواڑ کرنے والوں کا راستہ آہنی ہاتھوں سے اب بھی نہ روکا تو یہ فتنہ پورے ملک میں پھیلے گا۔شہید کمال احمد کے اہلخانہ کو انصاف کا یقین دلاتا اور سلام پیش کرتا ہوں۔
— Hamza Shahbaz Sharif (@HamzaSS) May 24, 2022
“I ask forgiveness from people. We are doing this with a heavy heart. If we bear one day of hardship then we may be saved from his (Imran’s) plan of jamming the whole of Pakistan,” he said.
The Chief Minister warned that the law and the Constitution would come into action to protect the people.
He also lashed out at Imran for allegedly spreading “hate” in society and Constable Ahmad’s killing.