PTI calls for dialogue to end impasse

Party chairman Gohar condemns arrests, raids in K-P

LAHORE:

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan on Wednesday criticised what he described as political victimisation of the party leadership and the family of PTI founder Imran Khan, calling for dialogue to resolve the country's prevailing political crisis.

Speaking to the media during a visit to Lahore to express solidarity with Imran's arrested sisters, Gohar lamented the arrest of the founder's family members, saying that four members of the PTI founder's family and eight members of the National Assembly were currently in custody, while some provincial ministers remained missing.

He also called for the disputes to be resolved through political means while keeping the doors for negotiations open. "Political disputes can only be settled through political means. In politics, no word is final," he added.

Gohar said the PTI leadership was aware of the stakeholders who could be engaged to address the political crises and stressed that political disputes should be resolved through dialogue. He also revealed that Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PKMAP) Chairman Mehmood Khan Achakzai, Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM) Chief Allama Raja Nasir Abbas Jafri and PTI leaders were prepared to engage in talks to end the deadlock.

Moreover, the PTI chairman expressed disdain that the party's public offers of negotiations were not met with grace by the federal government.

"There is currently no meaningful dialogue," Barrister Gohar stated, adding that the government did not demonstrate seriousness about resolving the political impasse.

He said political disputes should not be regarded as permanently settled and warned that the consequences of attempts to weaken political opposition were known to all. The PTI leader also said that the situation in K-P amounted to "unannounced Governor's Rule."

"The federal government has effectively assumed control of the provincial apparatus despite the PTI holding a democratic mandate," Gohar asserted, warning that such encroachment on provincial authority could set a dangerous precedent for the country's democratic system.

Gohar also rejected the allegations that his party plans to attack state institutions in Islamabad during the planned September 27 march. He said PTI aims to maintain peace during the demonstrations.

Meanwhile, PTI condemned what it described as raids on the residences of two provincial ministers in K-P and the arrest of a party-backed Member of the National Assembly (MNA) from South Waziristan.

According to a statement issued by PTI's Central Media Department on X, a raid was conducted at the residence of K-P Minister for Excise, Taxation and Narcotics Control Syed Fakhar Jehan last night.