The PPP Lahore president said the party would go ahead with its scheduled program on July 25 regardless of the circumstances
LAHORE:
The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is gearing up for a political showdown with the Punjab government after its request to hold a rally at Minar-e-Pakistan remained pending for more than six weeks, prompting the party to warn of protests, sit-ins and other agitation in the PML-N’s former citadel if the permission continues to be withheld.
Party leaders said a “complete gridlock”, from highways to major arteries across Lahore, could be on the cards as part of a wider protest campaign as the government keeps its permit in cold storage.
They accused the Maryam Nawaz-led Punjab government of denying the PPP its constitutional and democratic right to hold a peaceful political assembly, adding that the party would announce its future course of action at a press conference on Wednesday.
A senior party leader said the government had kept the permission for the rally “in cold storage” despite six weeks having passed.
“Six weeks was enough time. Now we’ve had enough,” he said. He lamented that the party’s legal and democratic right to organize a peaceful political event had been denied by the Punjab government.
The leader said the party would outline its strategy during Wednesday’s press conference.
“Our core objective is to seek permission for a convention, and that’s it,” he said.
“If they arrest us during our attempt to pressure the government for permission, so be it,” he added.
“What would the headlines read? ‘Maryam Nawaz-led government arrests leaders of its alliance partner’,” he noted.
According to a message circulated to the media, PPP Lahore submitted its application for the demonstration on June 8 and made several visits to the Deputy Commissioner’s office, but the permission was never granted.
The statement read: “PPP Lahore had informed the Punjab government that if the permission was not issued by 8:00 PM on 14 July 2026, the party would launch a peaceful democratic campaign against Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif’s refusal to grant permission and to secure its democratic right to hold the peace campaign at the MinPakistan campaign, including sit-ins, marches and other constitutional and democratic measures.”
“As the Punjab government failed to issue the permit within the stipulated time, Pakistan Peoples Party Lahore will announce its future course of action at an important press conference.”
PPP Lahore President Faisal Mir said the party would go ahead with its scheduled program on July 25 regardless of the circumstances.
