Former Pakistani PM Imran Khan says ‘long march’ will resume on Tuesday

Khan made the comments in a video broadcast from a hospital in Lahore where he was being treated after being shot in the leg during a protest march three days earlier.

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan called his supporters’ “long march” into the capital demanding snap elections resume on Tuesday after a gunman made an attempt on his life.

Khan made the remarks in a video broadcast live on social media Sunday from a hospital in the eastern city of Lahore, where he was undergoing treatment after being shot in the leg during the protest march three days earlier.

The leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party was later released from the health center.

“Our march will resume on Tuesday from the place in Wazirabad where I and 11 other people were shot, and where Moazzam was martyred,” Khan announced, citing the name of PTI worker Moazzam Gondal, who was killed in the attack.

The 70-year-old said he would not join in person as he recovers from his injuries, but will when the convoy reaches the city of Rawalpindi.

PTI President @ImranKhanPTI talks about the judicial commission and how impartial it will be if Shehbaz Sharif, Rana Sanaullah and Major General Faisal do not resign. #Real_Freedom_March pic.twitter.com/VuUwoM4tdH

— PTI (@PTIoficial) November 6, 2022

Khan welcomed Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government’s offer to set up a judicial commission to investigate the attack, but questioned whether the investigation would be impartial.

In addition to Sharif, the cricketer-turned-politician blamed Sharif, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and a senior Pakistan Army general for trying to assassinate him, demanding that all three resign. He has provided no evidence to support the allegation.

The government called Khan’s accusations baseless and said he was harming the country with “cheap and false conspiracies.”

Sharif ordered the Supreme Court on Saturday to form a full-court commission to investigate the “serious” allegations.

Khan maintains that his removal from office in a no-confidence motion in April was part of a “foreign conspiracy” planned in the United States with the help of Pakistani opposition parties, a charge repeatedly denied by the government, the powerful Pakistani military. and Washington.

Khan has held dozens of rallies across the country since April, demanding early elections. He was leading a march to Islamabad to press his demands when a gunman opened fire in the Wazirabad district of eastern Punjab.

In the past, he has also accused military officials of torturing them in custody and harassing his party workers, which include a senator and his chief of staff.