LAHORE: Federal Minister for Planning and Development, Ahsan Iqbal, has said that permitting protests by groups involved in the May 9 unrest could be dangerous.

While speaking at a press conference at the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party secretariat in Lahore, Iqbal stated that allowing such protests would be risky given the group’s role in creating instability in the country.

He emphasised that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party was attempting to destabilise the country and hinder economic recovery by inciting chaos.

The federal minister pointed out that while the government had been lenient towards PTI’s protests in the past, it resulted in incidents like those witnessed on May 9.

Iqbal added that after the events of May 9, it would be imprudent to expect anything positive from the PTI leadership. He expressed hope that the protest planned for today would fail, and the situation would stabilise.

He also clarified that the arrest of PTI founder Imran Khan had not been carried out by the government and that his release demands were not within the government’s jurisdiction, as his cases were pending in the courts.

The minister further questioned PTI’s calls for negotiations with the military establishment, recalling that Imran Khan had come to power in 2014 with establishment support and later worked alongside them during the 2018 elections, including the controversial RTS system.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024