ISLAMABAD: Although the PTI is planning a protest along with its allies in the opposition, the party’s chairman made it clear on Wednesday that rather than being a disruptive force, they would be taking a parliamentary route this time around.

Speaking to reporters in Islamabad, Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said that the PTI was in talks with parties such as the Majlis Wahdat Muslimeen, Mehmood Khan Achakzai’s PkMAP, Jamaat-i-Islami, BNP-Mengal and even Fazlur Rehman’s JUI-F to join their protests, which would now continue after the Eidul Fitr break.

When asked about their strategy for the upcoming wave of protests announced by the party, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan pointed out that the party had not gone for a sit-in, boycott or en masse resignations and were sitting in parliament despite knowing that the government of the day does not enjoy a legitimate mandate.

“It is everyone’s demand that elections should never be rigged. The people vote for someone and someone else comes to power, this shouldn’t happen,” he said, explaining the reasons behind the protest movement.

Party calls on CJP to step down from full bench hearing ‘meddling’ suo motu

When asked if he apprehended any hurdles to their protest plan, Barrister Gohar said that they would carry out “on and off” peaceful protests across the country and would only do so in the designated areas with official permission.

When asked if they would let the incumbent government complete its five-year term, Barrister Gohar said they wished every government should complete its tenure, but the current rulers did not have a public mandate.

CJP’s ‘recusal’

Meanwhile, in a press conference, PTI Central Information Secretary Raoof Hasan demanded that Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa should not be part of the bench that deals with the letter written by six high court judges, following his recent meeting with the premier.

Flanked by senior PTI leaders Khalid Khurshid, Shaukat Basra and Kanwal Shauzab, Mr Hasan said the CJP did not have any justification and logic to have meeting with the executive over the issue, since the high court judges wrote the letter to Supreme Judicial Council regarding alleged interference by the executive, indicating that the premier himself was an “accomplice” in the matter.

He alleged that efforts were being made at the SC level to sweep the matter under the rug, as the CJP spent a lot of time during proceedings to explain and justify his meeting with PM Shehbaz Sharif. “We believed that the CJP made the case and his own conduct controversial by holding meeting with PM,” Mr Hasan maintained.

He also expressed concerns that PTI founding chairman Imran Khan’s wife, Bushra Bibi, was facing life threats and was being slow poisoned.

He said that despite the passage of five weeks, Bushra Bibi had not recovered, rather her health had deteriorated further. He said they demanded that instant orders should be given regarding medical examination of Bushra Bibi and her blood sample should be sent abroad because no such laboratory existed in Pakistan to prepare a blood report of slow poisoning. “We demand that she should be shifted to Adiala Jail immediately,” he said.

Former chief minister of Gilgit-Baltistan Khalid Khurshid also lashed out at the authorities concerned for denying facilities of medical examination to Bushra Bibi despite her fast-deteriorating health condition.

Published in Dawn, April 4th, 2024