Undeterred by the government's ban on public meetings under emergency rule, former premier Benazir Bhutto-led Pakistan People's Party on Wednesday vowed to go ahead with a planned rally in the nearby garrison city of Rawalpindi on Friday.
The government of Punjab province late on Tuesday night banned the meeting by the PPP, citing the threat of suicide attacks.
Police officials also pointed out that such gatherings are prohibited under emergency imposed by President Pervez Musharraf on November 3.
But the PPP was unfazed, with the party spokesman Nazir Dhoki saying the meeting was called before the emergency was declared and would go ahead as scheduled.
"Inshallah, Mohtarma (Bhutto) will go to the rally and so will PPP workers. We will not be intimidated and nothing will stop us," Dhoki told PTI. "We will hold the rally whether any one likes it or not."
In a late night order, an official spokesman of the Punjab provincial government said any violation of the ban on public meetings would be dealt "with the full force of law."
Bhutto, who arrived in Islamabad from Karachi on Tuesday on her first visit to the Pakistani capital since her homecoming from eight years in self-exile on October 18, had said that the meeting scheduled in Rawalpindi for the election campaign would now be "a show of strength".
Bhutto also called on Pakistanis to come out on the streets to press the government to end emergency. "I appeal to the nation to join the protest and show their power. When people will come out, pressure will mount. The people will have to fight for the restoration of the Constitution and democracy and to save the country," she said on Tuesday night.
Bhutto also chaired a meeting of the opposition Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy on Wednesday to discuss ways to oppose emergency and press the government to hold the general election as scheduled by mid-January.
The two-time former premier survived a deadly suicide attack hours after her homecoming that killed nearly 140 people.
Bhutto left Pakistan for Dubai days before Musharraf imposed emergency, but returned hours after the beleaguered military ruler suspended the Constitution and key fundamental rights.
The PPP also dismissed reports aired on TV channels that said Tariq Aziz, the secretary of the National Security Council, had met Bhutto on Tuesday to set up a possible meeting between her and Musharraf.
"Bhutto has already said she has no plans to meet Musharraf and these reports are false and baseless. They are all part of the government's propaganda," said Dhoki.