PTI would demand discussions from the government through protests: Afridi

LAHORE: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, who spent three days in the provincial capital energizing party supporters, declared that the PTI will not hold negotiations with the government without first demonstrating its opposition to the status quo in the streets.

His comments coincide with the division of party leaders into two groups: one is led by veterans who want discussion, while the other is focused on street agitation in accordance with the orders of Imran Khan, the party’s imprisoned founder.
A day earlier, Chief Minister Afridi said he was in command of the “street movement” and that the opposition alliance had the last say over whether to start negotiations.

On Imran Khan’s orders, CM Afridi had traveled to Lahore with other provincial ministers and assembly members in order to start a fresh street movement. In the evening, he departed from the provincial capital. Ali Amin Gandapur, Afridi’s predecessor, also visited Lahore earlier this year, supposedly to start a protest campaign.

At a meeting earlier in the day, Mr. Afridi informed reporters that without opposition, reconciliation was not feasible. “If we engage in conversation without opposition, we shall be at a loss. Therefore, unless the rulers acknowledge the opposition as an equal partner and come to the table, the protest movement will continue,” he stated.

Speaking on the government’s proposed dialogue, the chief minister asserted that the PM must have received some sort of “direction” from the higher authorities for the talks. He claimed that discussions could only be relevant if those in positions of authority and influence were included.

When asked about reaching out to the influential quarters, he responded, “We could not develop a working relationship with the establishment because they did not accept my policy and I could not accept their policy.”

He accused the ruling parties of economic mismanagement and corruption, saying, “The establishment now knows that the incumbent rulers were unable to take Pakistan forward.”

Mr. Afridi stated that it was not necessary for the PTI to choose Islamabad’s D-Chowk as the location of its protest, as it did in November of last year, and that it was also not crucial to call off the demonstration after a few days.

The CM also said in an X post that he will travel to Karachi to support the “street movement.”
Meanwhile, Secretary General Salman Akram Raja stated that no political party could enter a dead end. “We are observing that the government wants the PTI to refrain from discussing its electoral fraud, the release of Imran Khan, the party’s imprisoned founder, or the intervention of institutions in politics and journalism. What shall we do, then?

According to Mr. Raja, the party would take to the streets to demand acceptance of the “basic principles” before reconciliation and communication could start.

CM Afridi had intended to see the families of imprisoned former Punjab governor Omar Sarfraz Cheema and attorney Hassaan Niazi, but he was prevented from accessing the Lahore cantonment area after the meeting with journalists.

According to the KP CM, he was stopped because the cantonment had been declared off-limits. “I have inquired as to whether Pakistan’s territory ended here and another nation’s land began.”

“The chief minister of a province should not have been treated so harshly by the Punjab administration. “I’ve been going through all of this for the last three days,” he bemoaned.

Salman Akram Raja stated, “The KP CM is also prepared to leave without his gunmen and KP police, but is still not being allowed.”