LAHORE: Following the arrest of scores of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers in Lahore on suspicion of violent protests, party leader Latif Khosa declared on Monday that they would continue to organize demonstrations unless their “mandate” was not granted.
Speaking to the media in Lahore, PTI leader Khosa stated that they only had one demand: an audit of election results. He insisted that if the mandate was restored, the government could move forward.
He also requested the release of PTI’s founder, leaders, particularly female leaders, and employees.
Khosa claimed that police had beaten PTI workers and vowed that the party will continue its protests to protect the people’s right to self-govern and elect their representatives.
“I’ll file a FIR against them for kidnapping. We’ll watch how this government functions,” he remarked, referring to police arrests of PTI workers as kidnapping.
He requested the police to reveal who was ordering the action against the political activists.
The experienced lawmaker further stated that he went to the police station and was forced to sit for six hours in the station house officer’s room. However, he admitted that no police officer had misbehaved with him. He stated that he told officers that he was a sitting MNA and hence could not be arrested without the authorization of the National Assembly speaker.