The country is bracing for a fresh round of protests as Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has announced to take to streets across Pakistan on August 5, demanding the release of its founder Imran Khan and a relief for inflation-broken masses.

The former ruling party has been calling for Imran's release, who has been behind bars for over a year. The deposed prime minister was arrested from Lahore on August 5, 2023, after a court sentenced him to three years in prison for illegally selling state gifts.

The protest call was made by PTI stalwart Asad Qaiser during a press conference on Sunday, jointly addressed by the party's Secretary General Omar Ayub Khan and others in Islamabad. 

"August 5 marks the day of PTI founder's arrest, we will stage protests on that day," Qaiser said while referring to the deposed prime minister's arrest in the Toshakhana case.

Lamenting the indiscriminate crackdown against the party, the former National Assembly speaker alleged that the PTI lawmakers and social media activists were currently facing a vicious witch-hunt.

"This crackdown is being done after the Supreme Court's verdict [on the reserved seats]," he said, urging the apex court to take a suo motu notice on the matter.

The Supreme Court, in its short order on July 12, allowed the PTI to receive seats in the assemblies reserved for women and minorities.

In the landmark ruling, the apex court directed the PTI to submit a list of its eligible candidates for reserved seats to the electoral body within 15 days of the verdict. 

The ECP should then publish the list of reserved seats of the candidates on its website within seven days, the SC ruling stated.

However, the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) filed a review petition against the SC ruling declaring the PTI eligible for the reserved seats.