Six-member govt-PPP team to meet PTI today, Achakzai rejects talks at Speaker’s Chamber
President Asif Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif along with members of the federal and provincial cabinets and parliament hold a meeting at Aiwan-e-Sadr. PHOTO: APP
ISLAMABAD:
The government and PPP on Thursday formed a six-member delegation to hold talks with the PTI on Friday (today) as the political temperature rises over the party’s planned Oct 4 protest march as the opposition demanded dialogue without conditions and the federal government kept the option of governor’s rule or emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on the table.
The decision was taken at a meeting between President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at Aiwan-e-Sadr, where the two leaders reviewed the country’s political and security situation and expressed concern over the situation in K-P.
They also stressed the need to strengthen the national resolve against terrorism and ensure effective coordination among relevant institutions for peace and stability.
PTI Chairperson Barrister Gohar Khan separately confirmed that government and opposition representatives would meet at noon on Friday in the office of National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq.
“PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Khan received a message from the government yesterday for a meeting, which he has accepted in light of the decisions made in today’s opposition meeting. God willing, a meeting will take place between the opposition and government delegations in the office of National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq tomorrow at 12pm,” a post on Gohar’s X account said.
According to the PPP statement, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, Adviser to the PM on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah, PPP Senator Sherry Rehman and PPP MNAs Naveed Qamar and Aijaz Jakhrani will represent the government and PPP at the meeting.
From the opposition, Tehreek-e-Tahaffuz Ayeen-e-Pakistan (TTAP) spokesperson Akhundzada Yousafzai confirmed his participation, along with Senate Opposition Leader Allama Raja Nasir Abbas and former senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar.
However, National Assembly Opposition Leader and TTAP Chairman Mahmood Khan Achakzai ruled out attending any meeting in the Speaker’s Chamber.
The opposition alliance’s decision followed a meeting with PTI leaders in the Senate opposition leader’s chamber. According to a TTAP statement, the participants discussed the overall political situation, the PTI’s planned protest march and other constitutional and parliamentary matters.
The proposed meeting between the government and opposition is being seen as a possible avenue for easing the political crisis, with the Oct 4 march having become the latest major point of confrontation between the PTI and the Centre.
The PTI remains determined to proceed with the march, while federal ministers have warned that the Centre may have no option but to impose governor’s rule or emergency in K-P, citing the province’s security situation and the PTI’s protest call.
The opposition has warned the government of dire consequences if either measure is imposed. The TTAP, headed by Achakzai and also comprising the PTI, has announced that it will join the protest.
‘Anywhere but not at PM Office, speaker’s chamber’
Following the TTAP-PTI meeting, Achakzai said he was unwilling to hold talks at the Prime Minister’s House, the Prime Minister’s Office or the Speaker’s Chamber.
“The prime minister is illegitimate. The mandate of millions of Pakistanis Harsh words are rising to my lips; that is why I am silent.
“I am ready to sit anywhere in Pakistan, under any tree. I am ready to visit the house of any party [leader]. But I will not go to the speaker house [sic], the Prime Minister’s House or the prime minister’s chamber,” he said while speaking to the media at Parliament House after the opposition leaders’ meeting, standing alongside Gohar.
Achakzai was responding to a question about PM’s Adviser Rana Sanaullah’s invitation to him and PTI Chairperson Barrister Gohar to sit with the prime minister for talks. The reporter asked why the meeting was not taking place.
In a video clip shared by TTAP, Achakzai also said a meeting with the prime minister would take place after a meeting with jailed former premier and PTI founder Imran Khan.
PM Shehbaz had extended an invitation to the NA opposition leader to sit together for consultations on issues of national importance and those related to the PTI before leaving for the US. Earlier, the premier had also invited Achakzai on Sept 11 for mandatory consultations on the appointment of a new chief election commissioner.
Gohar warns against emergency in K-P
Gohar told the media that PTI leaders had held a three-hour meeting with Abbas and Achakzai, during which they exchanged detailed views on the problems facing the country and the prevailing situation, particularly in K-P and preparations for the march.
He condemned the “state oppression and tyranny” inflicted on the PTI and its supporters, as well as the detention and treatment of Imran’s sisters in jail.
The PTI chairman claimed that attempts had been made to suppress his party “whenever we raise our voice for our rights and for justice in the country”.
Gohar also stressed that the party had “always stood with the state and the country”, including during the May 2025 conflict with India.
The leaders also discussed reports of a possible imposition of emergency, Gohar said, warning: “The federation becomes strong when the provinces are strong and autonomous, and when the people’s mandate is respected. You will put the federation at risk if you take any action in a province that goes against the will of its people.”
He reiterated that the PTI’s march would remain peaceful, saying, “This is our country; for us, Pakistan comes first, the state of Pakistan and its peace and security.”
Gohar said the way to avoid a long march was not through governor’s rule or a state of emergency, but by engaging with protesters, listening to the reasons behind their presence on the streets and addressing their concerns.
“We went to the Supreme Court 19 times, but were not heard. We went to the high court 25 times but its orders were not implemented. A special committee was formed in Parliament, but a meeting was never called Even today, the same concerns persist,” he said.
Despite these grievances, Gohar stressed that the PTI remained ready for negotiations and had already made its demands clear.
PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja also maintained that protesting was a constitutional and legal right and that the party would not retreat from its planned protest.
“The leader of the long march is Sohail Afridi; Imran Khan has appointed him. We will support him in every possible way,” he added.
‘Opposition ready for dialogue but without conditions’
Speaking to the media alongside Achakzai and Gohar after the meeting in his chamber, Senate Opposition Leader Abbas called for reconciliation and dialogue to resolve the political crisis, saying the opposition was prepared for talks but without preconditions.
He also stressed that the PTI protest would remain peaceful even if met with violence, and cautioned against the creation of a “false narrative” around the demonstration.
“I have said before as well that when we leave from there, there will be no weapons in our hands,” he said. “We know the value of human life.”
Abbas called for reconciliation and dialogue to improve the country’s situation.
“We are fully prepared to hold dialogue and correct the situation, but this will be without any conditions. If anyone thinks that they will hold a dagger of conditions at our necks, then, such a thing will never be accepted,” he said.
Regarding the planned protest, Abbas said the PTI had “decided to adopt a democratic approach by staging peaceful protests and a long march”.
He said the government should have “assured the protesters of the protection of their lives and property, provided them with facilities, and, while recognising the right to peaceful protest, designated the routes”.
“But, on the contrary, what did the government do? Even before the protests began, containers were placed to seal Islamabad, roads were dug up and nails were hammered into the routes,” he said, claiming that this was the behaviour of “scared people”.
Abbas stressed that the Constitution guaranteed the rights of Pakistani citizens and that peaceful protests, sit-ins and long marches were part of democratic politics.
He also criticised the reported arrests of PTI members under the Maintenance of Public Order law, calling it a completely “illegal practice”.
On Imran, Abbas said, “The only personality who can take Pakistan out of the current crisis is Imran Khan, whom the people trust.”
“He will go to Balochistan, where Akhtar Mengal and other leaders will be with him. He will sit with the people and talk to them and convince them. What you cannot do through the force of bullets can be done through dialogue because the people trust him,” he added.
‘Off-the-record talks’
Earlier in the day, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah said the federal government and PTI had been engaged in “off-the-record talks” over the party’s planned Oct 4 protest.
Sanaullah made the remarks while appearing on a private news channel’s show.
He said the decision on the proposed march rested with PTI’s senior leadership, “with whom off-the-record consultation is ongoing”.
“So let us see, even if they do not postpone it, we have arrangements in place to stop them,” Sanaullah warned.
He likened the PTI march to a “provincial government attacking the capital”, apparently referring to the PTI-led government in K-P.
“If a political party or a private organisation stages a protest, [ ] but for a government to attack [ ] it cannot be tolerated under any circumstances,” he held.
“The law will be enacted in full force, and they (PTI) will be barred from entering Islamabad,” he added.
Asked about governor’s rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sanaullah said on Thursday that the option was “on the table”.
He said the federal government was also consulting its coalition partners over imposing governor’s rule in K-P. The final decision, he added, rested with the federal government and the Senate, and the measure would require Parliament’s approval before taking effect.
Sanaullah alleged that the K-P chief minister had not been performing his duties as the province’s chief executive.
“For the past two months, he has not done anything, nothing about development or counter-terrorism efforts or for the welfare of people [ ] in fact, all he has done is talk about marching to Islamabad and toppling the federal government.
“They want to take ladders to Islamabad to secure the release of a certain someone,” he added.
Sanaullah reiterated that if a province is “engaged in such illegal and unconstitutional activities, then the Centre has the right to declare emergency or governor rule and assume power”.
