After talks between the government and the opposition failed last week, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) made another attempt to form a common front against the federal government, and made former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi part of the anti-government movement.
The meeting with the former PML-N member of the National Assembly from Murree came after a letter written by PTI founder Imran Khan to Army Chief General Asim Munir, suggesting ‘reform measures’ to address the alleged lack of trust between the people and the army.
The PTI has also tried to convince Maulana Fazlur Rehman of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam and former PPP senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar to join the anti-government alliance.
It should be noted that in April last year, the PTI had formed a multi-party opposition alliance called ‘Movement to Protect the Constitution of Pakistan’, which included the Sunni Ittehad Council, Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, Balochistan National Party Mengal, Jamaat-e-Islami and Majlis-e-Wahdat Muslimeen.
PTI officials say that the Grand Alliance will be led by Shahid Khaqan Abbasi. This decision was taken after a gathering of major opposition parties at the residence of former Speaker Asad Qaiser in Bani Gala.
The meeting was attended by Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Sunni Ittehad Council chief Hamid Raza, MWM leader Allama Raja Nasir Abbas, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Omar Ayub and others.
Sources say that Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was asked to head the steering committee to bring all the parties against the government on one platform, and the former prime minister was selected for this task, because he is a non-controversial person, the formation of the committee is yet to be done.
Leaders of all political parties demanded the resignation of the government, and urged the government to hold free and fair elections under a free and fair Election Commission. Imran Khan’s lawyer Faisal Chaudhry said that he believed that the problems of terrorism, instability and political chaos can only be solved through free and fair elections.
Faisal Chaudhry, who participated in the meeting, said that the meeting took place after the approval of Imran Khan, Chief Minister KP Ali Amin Gandapur has been advised not to make any statement against Maulana Fazlur Rehman.
It should be noted that Maulana Fazlur Rehman can play an important role in the event of launching a movement against the government, and this is when the PTI has tried to join hands with the experienced politician from Dera Ismail Khan.
He said that it is a fact that the PML-N and the PPP have lost their political space, and have deprived the PTI of its mandate and given it to the establishment. The current government is so helpless that it could not even arrange a meeting of the PTI’s negotiation committee with the party’s founding chairman, who is imprisoned in Adiala Jail.
Faisal Chaudhry said that during the meeting, it was decided to support the media and the legal community on the issue of amending the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PEC) and the appointment of judges in the Islamabad High Court, respectively.
Faisal Chaudhry said that the participants also expressed concern over the increase in terrorism in KP and Balochistan, and formed a committee to develop a strategy in this regard.
Meanwhile, PML-N Senator Irfan Siddiqui criticized PTI for withdrawing from the talks and writing a letter to the Army Chief, saying that it is not clear what these people want to achieve by writing such letters.
Senator Siddiqui stressed that Imran Khan should realize that the only way forward for his party is through serious negotiations.
He said that writing meaningless letters did not benefit him in the past, nor will it in the future. Imran Khan had sent a similar letter to the Army Chief even when Arif Alvi was the President.
