Pakistan’s struggling economy has witnessed a massive hit from multiple protests held by jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), and incurred costs exceeding PKR 2.5 billion.
The protests, which began on May 9 last year when the former cricketer was arrested on corruption charges, may lead the country and its economy into another spell of instability, reports said.
Meanwhile, authorities reopened roads linking Pakistan’s capital with the rest of the country, ending a four-day lockdown, on Wednesday.
“All roads are being reopened, and the demonstrators have been dispersed,” Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said.
Monday spent by the government
As per the official data, the government in Pakistan has spent PKR 2.7 billion over the past 18 months to manage the protests and sit-ins held by the PTI. Out of this, PKR 1.2 billion was spent in the last six months alone, amid intensified demonstrations in regions like Punjab, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as well as Islamabad, Geo News reported.
The total financial tool includes PKR 1.5 billion in damages to public and private property across several cities, while the losses inflicted on Safe City cameras are valued at PKR 280 million. These were vandalised during protests in Islamabad, Lahore, and Rawalpindi.
In addition to this, 220 police vehicles have been destroyed by the PTI protesters.
Last month, a report by the Press Trust of India highlighted how the fundamental assumptions used to finalise the $7 billion deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have gone awry within a month of its approval. This has left Pakistani authorities concerned with an option either to renegotiate the package or further suffocate the country’s economy through more taxes.
PTI calls off protest
On Tuesday, thousands of protesters from the PTI gathered in Islamabad after a convoy, led by Bushra Bibi, the third wife of Imran Khan, broke through several lines of security and reached the city’s highly fortified red zone.
Later, the security forces carried out a massive raid in a pitch-dark city, where lights were turned off, and fired a barrage of teargas. The gathering was soon almost completely dispersed from the area, officials said.
Citing police sources, several local media outlets reported that around 450 protestors were arrested in the crackdown, while at least six people, including four paramilitary soldiers, were killed, according to Reuters.
In a statement, PTI on X announced the cancellation of the “peaceful protest for the time being because of the government’s brutality”, while targeting the Shehbaz Sharif-led administration to “turn the capital into a slaughterhouse for unsuspecting citizens.”.
