Govt opens talks with opposition
Government-opposition contacts intensified on Saturday over the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) September 27 protest as Senate Opposition Leader Allama Raja Nasir Abbas confirmed a meeting with Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi but said that only PTI founder Imran Khan could decide whether the planned long march would be postponed.
The contact, which took place at Naqvi's request, focused on Imran Khan's situation and the September 27 protest.
Sources said PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan helped arrange the meeting and also attended it, while Raja Nasir publicly maintained that no one could postpone the protest without first meeting Imran.
Nasir said the meeting had taken place at Naqvi's request and that he had not approached anyone for it.
According to sources, the meeting lasted around one hour and 15 minutes and was held at the residence of one of Raja Nasir's relatives. Gohar was also present, the sources said.
Nasir confirmed that matters relating to the PTI founder had been discussed, adding that there had also been detailed talks on the long march and other issues concerning Imran.
According to sources, Naqvi asked Raja Nasir to meet Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, saying that the meeting could pave the way for relief for Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi.
The interior minister also sought the cancellation of the September 27 protest, sources said.
He maintained that negotiations would require the resumption of meetings with Imran and that the PTI leadership should consult him directly before deciding whether to withdraw the protest call.
According to the sources, Naqvi told Raja Nasir that the opposition should arrange a meeting with Imran so that he could be consulted over calling off the protest.
He also conveyed the position that once the call was withdrawn, it should remain withdrawn and the protest should not be revived.
Raja Nasir also arranged a telephone conversation between Naqvi and Tehreek-e-Tahafuz-e-Aain Pakistan (TTAP) chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai, according to the sources.
The sources said the message conveyed during the contact was that a meeting with Imran should be facilitated so that he could be consulted on whether the protest call should be withdrawn.
Gohar subsequently met Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi over the matter, the sources said, while consultations regarding the September 27 protest were also held on Monday and Tuesday.
However, opposition alliance sources said the contacts produced no final progress on the September 27 protest and did not prove particularly meaningful in terms of reaching an agreement.
'No one can minus Imran'
Similarly, in a post on X on Saturday, Raja Nasir said Naqvi had called on him and that he had told the interior minister that only Imran could postpone the September 27 protest.
"No one can minus Imran," he wrote.
TTAP spokesperson Akhunzada Hussain Ahmed Yousufzai said the meeting had been held on September 14 on Naqvi's request and that Raja Nasir and Gohar had attended it on behalf of the opposition.
Responding to questions after a press conference at Khyber Pakhtunkhwa House in Islamabad, Raja Nasir said: "He (Naqvi) came to meet [us]. We have stated our stance and they will find out that no individual can postpone the September 27 march without a meeting with Imran Khan sahib."
He asserted, "Imran Khan cannot be minused; we will not let Imran Khan sahib be minused. Therefore, no issue can be resolved without a meeting with Imran Khan sahib."
During the press conference, Raja Nasir said providing basic facilities to the people and protecting their constitutional rights were major issues. He said that even a senior federal minister had acknowledged that the country's system had "collapsed".
TTAP leader and former Sindh governor Mohammad Zubair said there was a wide gap between the lifestyle of the ruling elite and the economic difficulties faced by ordinary citizens.
He claimed that poverty, unemployment and inflation had increased compared with four and a half years ago.
Zubair said electricity prices had risen two to threefold, while people had made sacrifices in the hope that economic conditions would improve.
PTI leader and former K-P finance minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra criticised government spending, questioning the reported purchase of a jet costing Rs10 billion and expenditure on official and private travel.
He said every rupee of public money should be accounted for and questioned why relief was not being provided to people facing rising fuel prices.
Afridi meets Achakzai, Abbas
Against this backdrop, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi met Raja Nasir and Mahmood Khan Achakzai in Islamabad on Saturday for further consultations on the September 27 protest.
TTAP spokesperson Hussain Ahmed Yousafzai was also present.
According to the opposition alliance, the meeting covered detailed political consultations on the September 27 call, including the future course of action, political strategy and ways of advancing the democratic struggle.
The leaders discussed taking the protest call forward as an "effective and organised political struggle for upholding the supremacy of the Constitution, democratic rights, provincial rights, and the protection of the public mandate".
The meeting was the second between the three leaders this week. They had also met on Thursday, shortly after Afridi returned from his visit to Punjab, with the September 27 protest among the issues discussed.