ISLAMABAD: The PTI leadership decided on Friday to postpone the party’s planned long march towards Islamabad, which was originally scheduled for Sept 27, by more than a week.

The party has been preparing for a nationwide protest and march towards Islamabad on Sept 27 to press for the release of its founder, Imran Khan, who is currently incarcerated in Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail.

According to a senior leader, who requested anonymity, the march will now leave from Peshawar on Oct 4.

He added that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi would make the announcement soon.

“There was a proposal to exhaust the federal government and law enforcement agencies, as they have already closed the federal capital and a number of routes,” he said.

The leader claimed that the PTI had already achieved what it wanted to do via the march.

“They have closed the roads and are spending hundreds of millions on officials of law enforcement agencies. So we want them to continue spending on them,” he said.

When asked if PTI intended to march alongside the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI), which has also postponed its own protest march on the request of the premier, the leader said that the decision had nothing to do with the JI’s march.

“We are capable of arranging the march on our own,” he said.

Preparations in the Rawalpindi Division and the federal capital territory to maintain security and deal with any emergency situation are in full swing in light of the potential long march and other protests in Islamabad.

Section 144 has been imposed for two months in Islamabad, with the district administration warning citizens against participating in any “illegal activity”.

Section 144 has also separately been enforced across Punjab for 13 days, in view of “serious threats” to public peace, tranquillity, and the lives and property of citizens across Punjab.

Additionally, the Punjab government has requested the federal government to deploy Rangers in Rawalpindi, Attock, Jhelum and Mianwali districts from Sept 22 to Oct 5 to assist the provincial police in maintaining law and order amid the expected protest.

Earlier this week, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi had warned the PTI against its long march, urging the party to refrain from proceeding with the protest.

More to follow