Deposed Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan called off a protest march for his supporters on Thursday after clashes with police in front of parliament yesterday evening, but warned they would return unless the authorities call for elections within six days.
Khan said the vote of confidence that ousted him and led to the formation of the coalition government led by Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif last April was the result of an American plot, and he called for new elections to show he had popular support.
"I'm going to give you 6 days. They announce the elections in 6 days," Khan said from a truck after he and thousands of his supporters arrived in Islamabad, adding that parliament should be dissolved for new elections in June.
He warned the government that he would organize a new rally to the capital if his demands were not met.
The government will not acquiesce
But Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif does not intend to acquiesce in this demand, and said in the afternoon before the National Assembly, "We will not accept these dictations, the date of the elections will be decided by this assembly," adding, "If he thinks he can blackmail us, he is wrong."
Khan had mobilized thousands of his supporters to Islamabad, with the aim of occupying an important part of the capital so that Sharif would respond to his demand for new elections.
As of Wednesday morning, the Pakistani police closed the entrances to the capital and placed them under heavy guard to prevent the march from reaching.
The Supreme Court had ordered the government late on Wednesday to remove all police barriers at the city's entrances and to provide an open space for Khan's supporters to stage their protest.
For its part, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan expressed its "deep concern about the authoritarian methods used by the police."
"The state's exaggerated response provoked more violence in the street than it prevented it," she said in a tweet.
Elections are supposed to take place in October 2023, the date by which the mandate of the elected Khan should have ended in 2018.
It seems that the government of Shahbaz Sharif, after hesitation, decided to try to improve the economic conditions of the country before organizing elections.
During the past three years, the deteriorating economic and security situation cost Imran Khan his position, and the Pakistan Muslim League led by Shahbaz Sharif and the Pakistan People's Party led by the Bhutto family returned to power in a coalition government.