Deposed Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan defended his decision to cancel the open rally and sit-in last night after clashes with police in front of parliament, pointing out that he “wanted to avoid more violence”, noting that “this is what forced me to cancel the sit-in in interests of the nation.”

Khan repeated at a press conference held in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar his threat “to organize another mass rally next week if the Sharif government does not call for early elections.”

A rally in support of Imran Khan ended abruptly on Thursday morning after thousands of his supporters marched into central Islamabad to protest in front of the parliament building and demand early elections. Some members of Khan’s party, the PTI, are unhappy with his decision, as the sit-in was expected to continue until the government complies with their demands.

Khan, now Pakistan’s main opposition leader, was ousted in a vote of no confidence last April after some MPs from his party and a key partner in the ruling coalition defected.

Khan claimed that his overthrow was a conspiracy between the opposition and the US, while Washington denied allegations of any involvement in Pakistan’s domestic politics. A pro-Khan rally in Islamabad that began on Wednesday was the largest gathering of the former cricket star-turned-politician in weeks.

Dozens of Khan’s supporters and more than 100 police officers were injured in clashes between demonstrators and police in Islamabad and other parts of the country. Authorities arrested more than 1,700 Khan’s supporters and said he called off a planned march and sit-in after seeing a weak public response as the crowd only numbered 10,000 to 15,000 people.