PTI KP leader urges party to further postpone long march, warns of emergency risk
PESHAWAR: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Secretary Shaukat Yousafzai has urged the party leadership to further postpone the long march, now scheduled for October 4, warning that the risk of emergency rule made it imperative to delay the protest.
In the letter addressed to PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar and other party leaders on Tuesday, Yousafzai said the march should be postponed in the wider national interest, particularly given the security situation and increased terrorist activity.
He warned that the federal government could use certain issues as a pretext to impose emergency rule, and that a possible attack from Afghanistan could serve as justification for such a move.
He said the federal government was building a narrative that the KP government was not cooperating, and that this could lead to attempts to dissolve the provincial government or accuse the party of supporting terrorism, potentially leading to a ban on PTI.
He cited PTI founder Imran Khan's own precedent of ending a previous long march to protect workers' lives and urged the leadership to take his concerns seriously. He called for dialogue with the state rather than confrontation.
The letter comes days after PTI announced that its long march towards Islamabad, originally scheduled for September 27, had been postponed to October 4.
The former ruling party was preparing for a major protest and march on Islamabad, demanding the release of its jailed founder Imran Khan and the “restoration” of constitutional supremacy.
Meanwhile, PTI Chairman Gohar rejected the suggestion and reaffirmed the long march decision, saying the party had no intention of dissolving the KP provincial assembly and that Chief Minister Sohail Afridi could not be disqualified under any circumstances.
He said no consultation had taken place regarding finding an alternative to Afridi and that reports to the contrary were fabricated. He said Afridi had the full confidence of PTI founder Imran Khan and would remain chief minister.
Separately, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said the government had not refused talks with PTI but objected to the party making Imran Khan's release a precondition for dialogue, saying the forum for his release was the courts, not the government.
He said while legal and constitutional channels existed, PTI wanted to secure the founder's release through rallies, processions and marching on cities, which was not possible.
On the Supreme Court's order regarding Imran's transfer to a private hospital, Tarar said the court had ordered a medical examination which was completed, and that any shortcomings in implementation were for the court to examine — not for street protests to resolve.
Meanwhile, PTI Senator Ali Zafar said the postponement of the long march to October 4 now gave the government an opportunity to hold talks, saying if the government took one step, negotiations could begin.
He said the meeting between the opposition leader and the government before September 27 could not be called negotiations, and that proper talks should be held through committees in closed rooms. He said the October 4 long march was final and that the government was afraid of it.
