Peshawar, MAY 22: PTI Chairman Imran Khan, in a press conference in Peshawar, has announced that his party’s long march towards Islamabad will begin on May 25.

“Today we held our core committee meeting and we made [important] decisions,” Imran, flanked by the who’s who of PTI leadership, said at the start of his press conference. “The biggest [question] was when to begin the long march, and we have decided.”

“I want to give a little background of how we reached here. There was a foreign conspiracy against Pakistan from the US. In this regime change, they used locals — the most corrupt people, who were ready to become part of any conspiracy to save their corruption.

“This conspiracy was hatched eight months ago and I was alerted about it in June, and after August, I fully understood what was happening. We did our best that somehow this conspiracy could be voided but unfortunately we couldn’t stop it.”

The PTI chairman explained in detail his allegations of conspiracy as well as the purpose of his march before announcing the date.

“On the 25th [of May] I will meet you in Islamabad on the Srinagar Highway,” Imran said addressing his supporters and party workers. “You have to reach there at 3pm. I invite all the women because I’ve seen your anger. I had never seen that before.

“I want people from all [walks of life] to come because this is Jihad, and not politics. I’ve decided and told all my team that we have to be ready to sacrifice our lives.”

The announcement came after the PTI’s core committee held a meeting in the provincial capital earlier in the day.