ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan is leading an anti-government rally in Lahore to show “solidarity with laborers” on May Day and to raise his voice for the supremacy of the constitution, his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party said on Monday.
Several countries around the world celebrate May 1, also known as Workers’ Day or Labor Day, as a holiday to recognize the services of laborers around the world. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and President Dr. Arif Alvi both paid rich tributes to laborers and called for protecting their rights and keeping them safe from exploitation.
Pakistan’s labor class continues to suffer amid skyrocketing inflation in the South Asian country. As Pakistan scrapped subsidies and hiked fuel and food prices to revive a $6.5 billion loan program with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), consumer price inflation in the country jumped to a record 35.37 percent in March. In some urban parts of the country, food inflation soared to 47 percent, official data showed.
Ousted via a parliamentary vote in April 2022, former premier Khan blames the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif-led coalition government for most of the ills facing the country. After months of political tensions and at the Supreme Court’s directives, Khan’s PTI party and the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) decided to hold talks to resolve Pakistan’s political deadlock. After two rounds of talks, both sides decided to resume talks on Tuesday to resolve the political deadlock in the country.
Police personnel stand guard in front of the shipping containers after authorities blocked a road before the start of a march by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party activists in the connection with International Labour Day in Rawalpindi on May 1, 2023. (Photo courtesy: AFP)
Speaking about its May Day rally, the PTI said it would organize the rallies in Pakistan’s Peshawar, Rawalpindi and Lahore cities on Monday.
“Grand rallies will be organized in Lahore, Rawalpindi and Peshawar to show solidarity with laborers and for the supremacy of the constitution,” the PTI wrote on Twitter.
It added Khan would lead the rally in Lahore from Liberty Chowk which would culminate at the city’s Nasir Bagh area.
Political instability reached an all-time high in the country in January this year when the PTI and its ally dissolved the provincial assemblies in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab provinces. According to Pakistan’s constitution, elections must be held no later than 90 days after the dissolution of the assemblies when they are dissolved before their tenure ends.
The government, however, has refused to comply with a Supreme Court order to hold polls in Punjab on May 14. PM Sharif’s government says it is not economically viable to hold polls in different dates across the country. Khan, on the other hand, has warned of countrywide protests if the government delays polls further.
