ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the grand opposition alliance on Monday agreed to formulate a joint strategy concerning national issues and enhance coordination between them.
The decision was reached at a high-level huddle attended by leaders of the opposition in the Senate and National Assembly, as well as senior PTI figures, including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi.
Afridi attended the meeting, held at the residence of National Assembly Opposition Leader Mahmood Khan Achakzai, on the instructions of incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan.
Other attendees included Senate Opposition Leader Allama Raja Nasir Abbas, former National Assembly speaker and PTI Secretary General Asad Qaiser, Vice Chairman of Tehreek Tahafuz-e-Ayeen Pakistan (TTAP) Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, PTI spokesperson Hussain Ahmed Yousafzai and Imran Khan’s lawyer Khalid Yousaf Chaudhry.
According to TTAP spokesperson Akhunzada Hussain Ahmed Yousafzai, the leaders discussed Imran Khan’s deteriorating health and restricted medical treatment, obstructions in signing legal documents, denial of access to justice, the upcoming federal budget, the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award, provincial rights and fiscal federalism, the overall political situation and cases allegedly based on political vendetta.
The participants agreed to formulate a joint strategy on national issues and to further strengthen coordination among opposition parties and alliances.
The meeting comes amid repeated concerns raised by PTI and TTAP leaders over Imran Khan’s health, particularly reports of significant vision loss due to delayed medical care while he remains in Adiala Jail.
Opposition figures, including CM Afridi, have alleged that Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi have been denied proper access to family, physicians and legal facilities despite court orders.
Imran Khan has assigned Mahmood Khan Achakzai and Allama Raja Nasir Abbas to guide all major political and parliamentary decisions, while directing Sohail Afridi to lead the street agitation front.
Afridi has been spearheading PTI’s street movement on Imran Khan’s directives.
The campaign recently entered a new phase with a well-attended rally in Muzaffarabad on April 26 to mark the party’s 30th foundation day, where he announced that “a very big protest call is coming soon” with large-scale participation expected from across the country.
Monday’s meeting appears aimed at aligning the intensified street agitation with parliamentary strategy on Imran Khan’s health, constitutional rights, and fiscal federalism.
PTI and the grand opposition alliance have, in recent months, struggled to gain traction, largely due to internal divisions as well as ongoing regional hostilities that have pushed domestic political issues to the backburner.
However, the opposition group now appears keen to capitalise on the recent hike in fuel prices that has antagonised the public.
The K-P chief minister is also planning a visit to Lahore next month in an effort to revive the party’s fortunes in the country’s most politically significant province.
