Three hours after former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s convoy left Punjab House in Islamabad for his residence in Lahore via the Grand Trunk Road, the rally is heading towards its destination with at a snail’s pace. A large number of supporters and his party workers arrived at D-Chowk in Islamabad to see off the ousted PM. Before embarking on the journey, the Pakistan Muslim League -Nawaz leader held a meeting with key party leaders, including Prime Minister Khaqan Abbasi and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar. Amid serious security threats and political challenges, Nawaz has embarked on what PML-N circles call a ‘do or die’ battle for their party to lead the rally. According to reports, deliberations in the party over the rally’s route continued on Tuesday, with some party circles having opposed the idea to travel via GT Road instead of the motorway due to security threats. They worried that while Nawaz himself would be travelling in an air-conditioned and bomb proof container, accompanied by his family and senior PML-N leaders, the party’s rank-and-file would be exposed to serious security threats. Reports say the PML-N leadership has instructed party officials to ensure participation in such huge numbers that it takes ‘at least three days’ to reach Lahore. Nawaz would have overnight stops in Jhelum and Gujranwala before reaching Lahore. For this purpose, PML-N MNAs in both cities have been instructed to make arrangements to accommodate a large number of people. The Punjab government has instructed the owners of businesses located along the rally’s route to close their respective offices, shops, restaurants and other establishments ahead of the rally till further orders’. The GT Road is still stronghold of Pakistan Muslimg League Nawaz, so decision to travel through GT Road demonstrates that Nawaz Sharif wants to show its political strength and give strong message to his opponents. It is being expected that large crowd will attend the rally and this shows that decision by Apex Court to disqualify PM Nawaz Sharif did not make him unpopular. The decision of Supreme Court was also not welcomed by civil society. Nawaz is still enjoying support and confidence of people. Although PML-N has accepted and implemented the court’s decision but it has shown concerns on this decision. PML-N also wants to give strong message to undemocratic forces who are involved in conspiracies against nascent democratic process of the country. It also wants to mobilize people to get benefits in upcoming elections. The government should take strict measures to ensure foolproof security to rally.
