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Protest March Led by Pakistan's Ex-Prime Minister Plans to Reach Capital by November 11

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The protest march organized by Pakistani opposition party Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led by former Prime Minister Imran Khan is expected to reach the capital by November 11, ex-Planning Minister Asad Umar said on Wednesday.
Sputnik
The protest march, which is a move to demand early general election, kicked off in the city of Lahore on Friday.
Umar said that the PTI march would reach the city of Rawalpindi by November 10 as per new schedule, while convoys of protesters from all over Pakistan will arrive in Islamabad on November 11.
The march was interrupted on Sunday after Pakistani journalist Sadaf Naeem was crushed to death by a vehicle carrying Khan. After the incident, the party leadership stopped the procession, and the ex-prime minister expressed condolences over the woman's death.
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Last week, the Pakistani government asked the country's Supreme Court to halt the PTI's march, but the request was rejected. Before going to court, government representatives said that the authorities would strengthen their policy toward those who attended the protest. In turn, the Islamabad authorities announced that they would not allow the PTI to hold meetings in the city and stepped up the protection of the so-called red zone, in which the main government buildings are located.
The previous protest march took place on May 25, when thousands of Khan's supporters reached Islamabad. During the march, clashes broke out between the protesters and the police, in which dozens of people were injured. Following the clashes, Tehreek-e-Insaf decided to stop the protest to avoid bloodshed.
Khan was ousted in mid-April amid a spiraling economic crisis after the parliament held a vote of no-confidence in his government. Tehreek-e-Insaf lawmakers boycotted the vote.
Since then, numerous protests have been held in Pakistan calling for a snap election amid public discontent with the economic situation in the country under the government headed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who replaced Khan. Khan himself has insisted that his ousting was orchestrated by foreign powers, namely the US.
The Election Commission of Pakistan said that new election will not be held until May.
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