LAHORE – Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Secretary General Salman Akram Raja on Monday rejected reports that the party postponed its planned Islamabad long march because of backchannel contacts with the government.
Salman Akram Raja said the government had not yet given any indication that it was ready for negotiations following the postponement of Islamabad long march. He said PTI had nevertheless decided to give the government additional time to reconsider its position.
He expressed these words while talking to the reporters in Lahore.
Raja said the decision to defer the September 27 march was taken independently by the party and was not the result of any behind-the-scenes communication with the government.
“If there is any communication, Allama Nasir Abbas and Mahmood Khan Achakzai are there,” he said, adding that any political contacts did not necessarily have to be made public immediately.
The PTI leader said the latest wave of terrorism required political stakeholders to sit together and hold discussions. He added that if negotiations produced an agreement, PTI would honour any decision reached through the process.
Raja reiterated that one of the party’s key demands was the transfer of PTI founder Imran Khan to a hospital.
Earlier, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi also offered talks to the federal government, questioning why negotiations should be delayed until after the long march.
Speaking to senior journalists in Peshawar, Afridi said the federal government could resolve the issue through dialogue and mutual understanding within seven days if it was willing to do so.
He said PTI had sought negotiations even before announcing the long march and maintained that resolving the political dispute remained the party’s objective.
Afridi said the decision to delay the march was part of the political committee’s strategy to give the government additional time.
The PTI leader reiterated that the march would begin from Peshawar on October 4. He also said Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman would be welcomed if he joined the talks.
Afridi further said he would remain committed to PTI’s cause even if he lost the chief minister’s position, adding that any replacement would be decided by Imran Khan.
Here’s Why PTI Postponed Islamabad Long March to first week of October
