• Party’s political committee ‘unanimously’ agreed to postponement, says CM Afridi
• Claims Imran can be released within hours if courts dispense actual justice
• Insiders attribute postponement to party’s lack of preparedness, unavailability of transport and machinery to remove blockades
• Say PTI was under pressure from leaders, influencers abroad, and incentives offered to the party in backchannel talks with the powers that be

ISLAMABAD / PESHA­WAR: After much consternation, the opposition PTI on Friday finally annou­nced that it was postponing the planned protest march on the capital — originally scheduled for Sept 27 — until Oct 4.

The announcement was made by Khyber Pakhtun­khwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi at a presser in Peshawar, following a meeting of the party’s political committee.

The PTI had been gearing up for the nationwide protest to press for the release of its founder, Imran Khan, who is currently incarcerated in Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail.

The march had become a major bone of contention between the government and the main opposition party, with both taking entrenched positions.

On its part, the government had been adamant that it would not allow the party to block roads and disrupt routine life. To back their resolve, authorities had taken extraordinary security measures to ens­ure that the proposed march never made it to the capital, including blocking bridges, roads and motorways leading to the twin cities.

“All matters were discussed in the political committee meeting and it was unanimously agreed that the Islamabad long march will start from Peshawar on October 4,” the chief minister said.

Earlier in the day, amid speculation that the march would be called off, CM Afridi was resolute about plans for the march, saying that the party would go ahead with their protest — even if the authorities hammer nails into the roads, place containers, or fire bullets.

“The PTI will not step back from its demand for Imran Khan’s release and medical treatment despite threats of arrest and governor rule,” he added.

At the subsequent presser later in the evening, however, he said that their party workers were ready and they knew that the march was “a test match”.

“We are holding a long march in favour of our demands but the hatred and anger among people I see now, is at an extreme level,” he said, adding that their allies had also been informed about the decision taken by the PTI political committee.

CM Afridi said that their struggle was for the rule of law, upholding the Constitution, independence of judiciary and freedom of media, adding that founder PTI Imran Khan could be released within hours if the courts dispensed actual justice.

He recalled that three judges of the apex court ordered Mr Khan to be shifted to Shifa International Hospital, but the federal government refused.

He questioned what message the federal government wanted to send KP by “abducting ministers, raiding houses and picking up workers”.

The PTI would remain peaceful and would not give the government an opportunity to launch another “false flag operation like May 9”, even if their workers are provoked, he said.

Asked if the PTI intended to march alongside the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI), which had postponed its own protest march against the petroleum levy on the request of the premier, the leader said that the decision had nothing to do with them.

“We are capable of arranging the march on our own,” he said.

Story behind the postponement

Party leaders Dawn spoke to after the announcement attributed the postponement to various factors, such as a lack of preparedness, the unavailability of transport and machinery to remove blockades, pressure from party leaders and influencers abroad, and incentives offered to the party in backchannel talks with the powers that be.

But publicly, the party is claiming that the idea behind the postponement was exhaust the government, law enforcement agencies and other stakeholders, effectively tricking them into expending money and resources on a “futile effort”, sources said.

“They have engaged 50,000 officials of law enforcement agencies, providing them food and shelter, police officials are getting sick and even scandals about quarrels and the quality of food provided to them are surfacing. So it is good to delay the march,” PTI leader Naeem Haider Panjutha told Dawn.

He said that it was also suggested that the march should start on Oct 4 so that workers can celebrate Imran Khan’s birthday in Swabi the next day.

PTI Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram said that as the custodian of the street movement, CM Afridi had every right to do what he thought was best for the party.

“Moreover, the whole political committee has endorsed the proposal… so the whole party will support it,” he said.

Leaders of the Tehreek-i-Tahaffuz Ayeen-i-Pakistan (TTAP) opposition alliance, however, were not fully on board with the decision to delay the march. However, once the decision was taken, they agreed to abide by it, but made it clear that they would not own the decision.

A senior PTI leader told Dawn on condition of anonymity that the debate started on Wednesday, during a meeting in Peshawar that was attended by party leaders including Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, Salman Raja, Shafiullah Jan, Asad Qaiser, Junaid Akber, Shaukat Yousufzai and others.

“During the meeting it was suggested that the march should be delayed by 7 to 10 days. The reason given was that the federal government was spending a lot on security and trying to exhaust them would be the best strategy.”

However, even this did not lead to a concrete decision.

Then, on Friday, when a party leader suggested that the march should be delayed by three days, CM Afridi reportedly suggested calling a meeting of the party’s political committee to discuss the issue.

Giving an account of what transpired in the meeting, an insider said that a certain leader who is currently abroad suggested that a new date should not be given immediately. This did not sit well with former NA speaker Asad Qaiser, who reportedly protested, saying that party workers will never forgive them if a new date was not announced.

Another PTI leader told Dawn that other dates were also discussed during the meeting, such as Oct 10 and Oct 16, but the majority did not agree on them.

Then, CM Afridi contacted Mr Achakzai to inform him about the postponement, at which the opposition leader said that when the date for the march was not discussed with him, why should he give his input on the postponement.

There was also a general unwillingness among leaders to be the ‘bearer of bad news’, so to speak. Initially, Mr Achakzai, Barrister Gohar and even CM Afridi appeared announce the postponement.

When contacted, TTAP Spokesperson Akhunzada Hussain Ahmed Yousufzai confirmed that CM Afridi had contacted Mr Achakzai. Upon being informed that the march would be postponed due to some administrative and logistic issues, both Mr Achakzai and Raja Nasir Abbas suggested that the party should stick to their original plan, but later relented, saying that they would respect the party’s decision, even though they did not endorse it.

“As the PTI is our partner, we will support them for the Oct 4 march,” he said.

Published in Dawn, September 26th, 2026