PESHAWAR — The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) parliamentary party in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly has endorsed negotiations with the federal government and the establishment to restore the provincial government, and has demanded that its own representatives be included in any talks, according to The Express Tribune.
In a statement after a meeting on Thursday, the lawmakers proposed former chief minister Ali Amin Gandapur as the province’s representative in negotiations, the Tribune reported. A fuller account of the party’s online meeting on Wednesday, also reported by the Tribune, said the legislators wanted the release of detained Speaker Babar Saleem Swati, Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and other cabinet members and lawmakers, and voiced concern that the central leadership had not consulted them on the party’s future strategy. They agreed a coordinated approach was needed, according to the report.
The push for talks comes with visible strain inside the party. PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan has asked leaders to stop publicly criticizing one another after a dispute between Secretary General Salman Akram Raja and Gandapur, who objected to Raja’s recent social media post and his reference to critics within the ranks. Speaking to the Tribune by telephone, Gohar said he had spoken to Gandapur, Sheikh Waqas Akram, Ali Asghar Khan and Raja and asked them to refrain from issuing statements against one another. He insisted the provincial lawmakers had neither violated party policy nor intended to do so, and reiterated that Afridi was, and would remain, the PTI’s chief minister in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
PTI Chief Whip Amir Dogar, meanwhile, signalled that talks with the government could resume in the coming days, while dismissing reports of divisions in the parliamentary party, according to the Tribune. Dogar said party founder Imran Khan had entrusted the opposition leadership in the National Assembly and Senate to Mahmood Khan Achakzai and Allama Raja Nasir Abbas respectively, so no change could be made without Khan’s consent. He said Afridi was the party’s constitutional and lawful chief minister and enjoyed Khan’s confidence, and that the party remained committed to negotiations despite what he called “unprecedented oppression,” adding that more than 10 PTI members of the National Assembly were in jail.
Background: the federal government imposed emergency and governor’s rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on October 11, suspending the PTI-led provincial government it accused of disengaging from the fight against militancy. The PTI has challenged the move in the Peshawar High Court and describes it as a political takeover; Khan, the party’s founder, has been in jail for more than three years. This week the governor also transferred detention powers under Section 3(1) of the Maintenance of Public Order law to district officers across the province.
Why it matters: this is the clearest signal yet from the PTI’s elected lawmakers in the province — as distinct from its central leadership — that they want a negotiated route back to government, and a say in who negotiates. What happens next depends on whether the federal government agrees to talks that include the parliamentary party, and whether the party can hold the Gohar-brokered truce between its factions while those talks are explored.
Read the original reporting in The Express Tribune via Shafaqna.
