After disputing rumors that it was establishing an alliance with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in the center and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-Parliamentarians (PTI-P) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) declared on Thursday that it would be holding “peaceful protests” across the nation.
The declarations followed allegations from reliable sources that PTI founder Imran Khan has loosened his opposition to political opponents and agreed to engage in negotiations with the PPP and Parvez Khattak’s breakaway wing of the party.
According to party insiders, Khan, who is still detained at Adiala jail, is “ready” to speak with the PPP, which has already declared its support for Shehbaz Sharif, the prime ministerial nominee of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz.
Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif, the leader of the PTI, refuted allegations that he had contacted the PPP about forming a government. Speaking with reporters, the attorney claimed that the PTI founder had “strictly” warned against having discussions with the PML-N and PPP.
“It is false to report that [PTI] is forming a government with PPP.” It was the PTI founder’s advice to remain in opposition rather than form an alliance with the PPP and PML-N, he continued.
Later, Barrister Gohar Khan and Sher Afzal Marwat ruled out forming a coalition with the party led by Bilawal in an interview with journalists following their meeting with Khan in Rawalpindi.
“We told Khan sahib about the messages from PPP. Marwat informed reporters that Khan sahib “flatly rejected the idea of power-sharing with either the PPP or the PML-N.”
Furthermore, Gohar flatly denied media reports that said PTI and PTI-P were planning to form a political coalition in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. “We are not going to collaborate with the PTI-P.”
The head of the PTI also extended an invitation to political parties such as Jamaat-e-Islami and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) that feel that the recent elections were rigged to participate in their demonstration on Saturday.
Omar Ayub, potential PM contender
PTI asserted that it had enough members in the parliament to choose its prime minister whereas Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the party with the second-largest majority in the National Assembly, partnered with other political parties, including PPP, to establish a coalition government in the Center.
Recently, the party also announced Omar Ayub, its general secretary, as a contender for prime minister of the nation.
In the meantime, Khan proposed Salar Khan for the prime minister position in Balochistan and Mian Aslam as the PTI’s candidate for Punjab.
The Imran-founded party claimed to have obtained 180 National Assembly seats, reiterating its claims to have won the most seats in the 2024 elections.
Former PTI chairman Gohar declared, “We have secured 180 seats,” but he also stated that his party would only recognize the results that complied with the Form 45s.
Going by the leader’s admission that he had asked political parties to join PTI’s protests, sources claimed that Gohar would take a delegation to meet with Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the head of the JUI-F.
It should be mentioned that Asif Ali Zardari, the co-chairman of the PPP, stated two days ago that he would be open to speaking with the PTI in order to forward the nation’s reconciliation efforts.
“We wanted every political power to be involved in this process of reconciliation, not just the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. Therefore, we also wanted the PTI to be involved in the reconciliation process.
At a joint press conference with the six-party alliance on Tuesday, he had declared, “We want to go together with economic, defense agenda and other similar things and make Mian sahib and other friends successful so that we can make Pakistan and its people successful.”
To ‘negotiate’ with parties, Asad Qaiser
According to the sources, Khan decided to set up a committee headed by Asad Qaiser to conduct talks with political parties.
The sources claim that the PTI founder advised Qaiser to get ready for the formation of a government and that all decisions would be made after consulting with the political leadership.
The sources further stated that Qaiser has been tasked with forming an alliance with a new political party in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, after Khan was consulted on the matter.
According to party sources, the political committee will decide how to proceed with conversations with political parties, and the PTI founder is prepared to address important matters with them.
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