ISLAMABAD:
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the opposition grand alliance on Monday agreed to formulate a joint strategy regarding national issues and strengthen coordination between them.
The decision was taken at a high-level meeting attended by opposition leaders in the Senate and National Assembly, as well as senior PTI leaders, including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi.
Afridi attended the meeting, held at the residence of Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Mahmood Khan Achakzai, on the instructions of incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan.
Other participants included Leader of Opposition in Senate Allama Raja Nasir Abbas, former National Assembly Speaker and PTI General Secretary Asad Qaiser, Tehreek Tahafuz-e-Ayeen Pakistan (TTAP) Vice President Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, PTI spokesperson Hussain Ahmed Yousafzai and Imran Khan’s lawyer Khalid Yousaf Chaudhry.
According to TTAP spokesperson Akhunzada Hussain Ahmed Yousafzai, the leaders discussed Imran Khan’s deteriorating health and restricted medical treatment, obstacles in signing legal documents, denial of access to justice, upcoming federal budget, National Finance Commission (NFC) award, provincial rights and fiscal federalism, overall political situation and cases allegedly based on vendetta politics.
Participants agreed to formulate a common strategy on national issues and further strengthen coordination among opposition parties and alliances.
The meeting comes amid repeated concerns raised by PTI and TTAP leaders over Imran Khan’s health, particularly reports of significant vision loss due to delayed medical treatment while he remains in Adiala jail.
Opposition figures, including CM Afridi, claimed that Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi were denied adequate access to their family, doctors and legal services, despite court orders.
Imran Khan tasked Mahmood Khan Achakzai and Allama Raja Nasir Abbas to guide all major political and parliamentary decisions, while tasking Sohail Afridi to lead the street agitation front.
Afridi spearheaded the PTI street movement as directed by Imran Khan.
The campaign recently entered a new phase with a well-attended rally in Muzaffarabad on April 26 to mark the party’s 30th founding day, where he announced that “a very big call for protest was coming soon”, with large-scale participation expected from across the country.
Monday’s meeting appears aimed at aligning the intensified street agitation with parliamentary strategy on Imran Khan’s health, constitutional rights and fiscal federalism.
The PTI and the grand opposition alliance have struggled in recent months to gain traction, largely due to internal divisions as well as ongoing regional hostilities that have relegated domestic policy issues to the background.
However, the opposition group now appears keen to capitalize on the recent rise in fuel prices which has upset public opinion.
The KP chief minister is also planning a visit to Lahore next month in a bid to revive the party’s fortunes in the country’s most politically important province.
