Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Central Secretary General Salman Akram Raja has urged the public to take to the streets for their rights if the party’s 80 parliamentarians fail to respond to the party’s protest call.
Raja said the public should not wait for PTI parliamentarians to come out and should instead mobilise themselves for their rights and in support of PTI founder Imran Khan.
He admitted that despite the party’s call for protests, PTI parliamentarians did not turn up to the high court today. “We know that we gave a call for protest, but no one came out. They only know how to sit back and criticise,” he said.
The PTI leader also strongly criticised the party’s parliamentarians and organisational members, saying the party leadership knew who had fulfilled their responsibilities and who had failed to do so.
Raja said he would present all the facts before the nation, including where each parliamentarian and party member stood on August 5.
Expressing disappointment over the absence of party parliamentarians, he asked, “Where are our people?” He said party members had been repeatedly requested to remain present at protest sites, but, regrettably, very few were seen.
Raja stressed that these facts needed to be brought before the public so that the party’s workers and leadership could be held accountable for their performance during the protest call.
Earlier, the PTI had called for nationwide protests on August 5, but the party’s gatherings in Peshawar and Islamabad witnessed a limited public response.
According to reports, the designated protest venues remained largely empty, with few participants seen at the sites. Traffic continued to flow normally in the areas where the demonstrations were expected, and no major congestion or disruptions were reported.
Peshawar remained fully operational throughout the day, while no prominent PTI leaders were seen at the protest venues or on the streets.
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