Thousands rally in Pakistan as pressure grows on PM Khan

Tens of thousands of activists from Pakistan’s ruling party and opposition groups have descended on the capital, Islamabad, ahead of a parliamentary vote seeking to topple the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Khan, under mounting political pressure, had urged supporters from across the country to gather on Sunday for a show of strength ahead of the crucial vote expected next week.

“It is a battle for the future of our nation,” the cricketer-turned-politician said in an audio message released on Twitter on Sunday.

Activists from Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party started arriving in the early morning at the venue, a parade ground near the Faizabad Interchange, where people danced to party anthems and shouted slogans such as “long live Imran Khan”.

PTI leaders said they expected more than a million people to attend the rally, even though some say the venue cannot accommodate more than 30,000.

Addressing the rally on Sunday, Khan said that a “foreign conspiracy” was behind the no-confidence motion and that “funding was being channeled into Pakistan from abroad.

“We have been threatened in writing but we will not compromise on national interests,” he said, without providing details or evidence.

An alliance of opposition parties is accusing Khan’s government of corruption and blaming him for mismanaging the country amid a growing economic crisis.

Opposition supporters are also gathering in Islamabad ahead of planned anti-Khan protests on Monday.

Supporters of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s party began a “long march” on Saturday to the capital from the eastern city of Lahore, the political bastion of Sharif and his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party.

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