Imran asks senior PTI leaders to be prepared for arrests: sources

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan has asked his party to be prepared in case the government arrests senior PTI leaders ahead of the Aug 14 ‘Azadi’ march in Islamabad, party sources told Dawn.com on Saturday. Earlier today, Khan held a meeting with senior leaders of the party’s Punjab chapter, including PTI Punjab President Ejaz Chaudhry, senior leader Javed Hashmi and Naeemul Haq. Khan said that there is “absolutely no room for negotiations with the government. We’re demanding fresh elections,” Naeemul Haq quoted the PTI chief as saying. Another source privy to the meeting quoted Khan as asking the party’s second tier leadership to be prepared in case arrest orders are issued for the senior leadership. The source said that the party is expecting close to a million people to take part in the march on the federal capital, with over 200 motorcycles to depart from the Lahore motorcade. The party had called for a 'million march' on Aug 14 to register its protest against alleged widespread rigging in the 2013 general elections. PTI mulls National Assembly resignations The PTI leadership is also deliberating over whether it should ask its lawmakers to resign from the National Assembly ahead of the march, Dawn.com learnt earlier today. Party leaders told Dawn that such a move was being “weighed as an option”, however no formal decision has yet been taken. “A discussion has taken place regarding the tendering of resignations. But this was only weighed as an option. No decision has been made,” senior PTI leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi told Dawn.com. “There is a party meeting before the parliamentary session on Aug 4, and this matter will be discussed but there is no decision on this (yet).” Qureshi’s comments came after PTI lawmaker Engineer Hamidul Haq said that PTI chairman Imran Khan had already asked party MNAs to prepare their resignations. Speaking to TV channels, Haq had said that the PTI parliamentary party would meet two hours before the NA session scheduled for Monday, after which PTI lawmakers would submit their resignations. PTI leader Asad Umar also confirmed Qureshi’s version, saying that no such instructions have yet been issued by the leadership, although the move was discussed as a ‘possible option’ within the party. Speaking to Dawn.com Asad Umar said that the purpose of the long march was to strengthen democracy in the country. He further stated that mid-term elections would the PTI's goal. He said that mid-term polls are held in other countries as well. Such a move may be possible if the situation arises though it would be officially announced by the party, Umar told Dawn.com.