Achakzai calls on PTI to postpone civil disobedience move

Mahmood Khan Achakzai, the president of the Tehreek Tahafuz Ayeen-e-Pakistan (TTAP), an opposition alliance, has asked the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to delay its planned civil disobedience campaign.

Speaking to Geo News on Saturday, Achakzai, also the Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) chief, stressed on the value of talks with the administration to address the national political crisis.

Achakzai emphasised that discussions should focus on a clear roadmap for when the government will step down. He said: "If problems can be resolved through dialogue, there’s nothing better than that. However, if talks fail, the movement will have to proceed."

He further proposed that successful negotiations should lead to elections within four months. Achakzai also announced plans to visit Peshawar tomorrow at PTI’s invitation to offer prayers for the martyrs of Kurram and PTI.

Meanwhile, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar said that while no conditions were set for negotiations, demands were certainly presented.

Speaking to the media in Islamabad, Barrister Gohar criticised the handling of the November protest, noting: "Such incidents have occurred globally, but no shots were fired during protests. Here, tear gas shelling began before protesters could even assemble."

He reiterated PTI's commitment to dialogue, recalling that the party's founder, Imran Khan, had previously advocated for negotiations. However, he noted that prior talks were interrupted before reaching a critical stage.

The PTI chairman added: "Enough is enough. It's time to steer the country towards improvement."

The PTI has threatened to launch a civil disobedience movement, if the government does not engage in serious negotiations, a move that drew ire of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who termed it an "enmity with Pakistan".

Incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan — in a post on X — had warned the government of launching a "civil disobedience" movement if his demands — judicial inquiry of the May 9, 2023, riots and November 26 crackdown on PTI protesters and release of its "political prisoners" — are not met.

The ousted prime minister also constituted a five-member negotiation committee comprising Omar Ayub Khan, Ali Amin Gandapur, Sahibzada Hamid Raza, Salman Akram Raja and Asad Qaiser.

The committee, he said, would negotiate with the federal government on two points — the release of “political prisoners” facing trial and the constitution of a judicial commission to probe the events of May 9, 2023, and a late-night crackdown on PTI protesters on November 26.

Meanwhile, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif challenged the former ruling party to stand firm on its newly-announced civil disobedience movement after failed attempts to "attack" the capital.

Later, in a bid to create an "atmosphere of reconciliation" and defuse prevailing political tensions in the country amid PTI’s civil disobedience threat, the former ruling party and the government reportedly agreed to use parliamentary forum for negotiation.

However, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Rana Sanaullah on Friday revealed that the government has not yet received a formal message from PTI on initiating the process of dialogue despite the rival party's claims of having formed a negotiations committee.

On the other hand, senior PTI leader Qaiser also clarified on Friday that his party was not engaged in any talks with the government, dismissing reports suggesting that dialogue might have kickstarted.