ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Omar Ayub Khan on Monday urged the relevant authorities to restore social media sites in the country.
“They are blocking social media even today. We demand that the social media sites be restored,” the PTI leader said while talking to the media in Islamabad.
X, formerly Twitter, has remained largely restricted in Pakistan since February 17 as people access the popular site using VPNs.
Speaking to a local media channel, former caretaker information minister Murtaza Solangi said the caretaker government had nothing to do with the X shutdown in Pakistan.
“This fascist government has completely lost its mind. Various social media platforms like Facebook, X and Instagram are blocked and their speed has also been slowed down,” Omar said.
He said the sites were being blocked so that citizens could not get “correct and quick information”.
“We strongly condemn this as Pakistan cannot develop without social media and we demand the restoration of these sites without any hindrance and blocking,” the PTI leader said.
“Our candidates were defeated through manipulation,” the PTI leader claimed. He also criticized Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz and the police for filing terror cases against party workers during yesterday’s protests.
He claimed that over 100 workers of his party were arrested during yesterday’s protests. “PTI has always been a peaceful party and will remain so,” he added.
The PTI is among other parties that have rejected the 2024 general elections, saying the polls were rigged by their rivals. The Imran Khan-founded party held protests across the country against “manipulation” in the elections.
Ayub said an International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation visited PTI founder Imran Khan last year. In this meeting, the former prime minister told the delegation that they could sign an agreement for the betterment of Pakistan.
“However, he told the IMF team that the February 8 election should be held on a date that is in accordance with the law and the constitution,” the former minister said.
He added that “illegal governments” do not respect the constitution and violate it. “Those who delayed the election were guilty of violating Article 6,” he added.
The PTI leader further said that the Shehbaz Sharif-led government does not have the ability or courage to bring IMF reforms. We fear that the current government will abuse the IMF loan.
