Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan issued directives on Saturday to expedite establishing contact with other opposition parties for “protests after Eid”, his lawyer Faisal Chaudhry said on Saturday.
“Imran Khan proposed to organise protests [against the incumbent government] after Eid,” said Chaudhry while speaking on Geo News programme “Naya Pakistan”. The legal counsel held a meeting with the incarcerated former premier earlier today.
He added that Khan ordered Asad Qaiser to contact all opposition parties, including the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), Mahmood Khan Achakzai’s Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), Shahid Khaqan Abbasi’s Awaam Pakistan, Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA), Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Mahrang Baloch, and others.
Unveiling the former ruling party’s strategy, Chaudhry said that the PTI was working towards forming a grand opposition alliance, focused on certain objectives including restoration of the constitution and democracy.
The lawyer added that the alliance’s objectives also include the end to human rights violations. However, the objectives can not be achieved without the independence of the judiciary and the media, he emphasised.
Chaudhry said that amid ongoing efforts to form the grand alliance, Qaiser was leading from the Imran Khan-founded party, whereas, JUI-F’s committee was led by Kamran Murtaza and a sub-committee was working under ex-PM Abbasi.
The PTI founder’s lawyer further said that his party was in contact with all opposition parties and personalities to develop consensus on the objectives ahead of initiating the movement against the incumbent government.
He elaborated that a consultative session of the joint opposition was held at Qaiser’s residence last week and another one was hosted by Achakzai.
Since Khan’s ouster from power, the PTI organised a series of anti-government protests in the past, however, they ended up abruptly following violent clashes between the protesters and law enforcers.
The party’s protest after Khan’s arrest in 2023 turned violent as several government and military installations were targeted by the protesters on May 9, leading to arrests and military trials of the accused.
The country once again witnessed fierce clashes between law enforcers and demonstrators when they held a protest rally on November 26, 2024, in Islamabad.
To a question regarding internal rifts within the party which allegedly led to the expulsion of lawmaker Sher Afzal Marwat, the lawyer said that his party revolves around the personality of its founder.
In response to Marwat’s criticism, Chaudhry claimed that the lawmaker should know that the PTI was not a hereditary party as it has an accountability mechanism and each member was independent to present its point of view.
He added that as a lawyer, he kept himself at a distance from the party’s [political] affairs to focus on his prime responsibility to legally represent the jailed former premier and convey his directions outside the prison.
Chaudhry termed Marwat’s outburst a “matter of patience” and said that some politicians lacked the patience to bear criticism.
He praised PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur as PTI leaders who always hold their nerve despite facing harsh criticism.
His statement came amid reports of “internal rifts” in the former ruling party, with members of its senior leadership developing differences on various matters. The most recent is the case of firebrand lawyer-turned-politician Marwat, who was expelled from the party over a disciplinary violation.
In response to his expulsion, Marwat, while speaking on Geo News programme “Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath” a day ago, alleged that “unelected members are managing all party affairs” and “keep [party founder] Imran Khan isolated”.
The lawmaker had primarily targeted the party’s Secretary General Salman Akram Raja in his critical remarks as he directly blamed him for his ouster from the party. He also claimed that he would soon return to the party as he was not part of any group within the PTI and was loyal to Khan.
