Protests over inflation in Pakistan to begin
Pakistan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party will hold protests against inflation today in Sialkot, in the province of Punjab.
PTI, the party of ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan, began its protests against inflation on Dec 31, 2022, from Gujranwala, Punjab. Since then, protests have been moving across the province, with local PTI parliamentarians leading the movements in each location.
The protests are expected to continue until the coalition government in Islamabad is dissolved. PTI has also emphasized that it will not tolerate a technocratic government at the federal level because it would be unelected. The option to appoint an interim technocratic government has been discussed by senior government leaders and their advisors, in an effort to steady the economy, given the failure of the government in power to resolve the ongoing economic crisis in the country.
The protests will likely result in retaliation against PTI and Imran Khan, in the form of police action or criminal charges of corruption though it is unlikely that anyone will actually be convicted. Expect also that the protests will result in a vote of no confidence in the federal government, being called in the Parliament, which is likely to cause the government to collapse.
