- Even “breathing space” is not available for ITP, says Shafi Jan.
- Political commission responsible for deliberating on resignations: minister.
- The KP information minister said Bilawal and Nawaz were running the campaigns freely.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Minister Shafi Jan said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was considering withdrawing from legislatures amid “shrinking political space” for the opposition party.
Speaking on PK Press Club News program ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath’ on Thursday, KP Information Minister said that all political leaders, including PPP chief Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and PML-N President Nawaz Sharif, were freely conducting election campaigns in Gilgit-Baltistan while even “breathing space” is not available for the PTI.
He said PTI leaders Junaid Akbar, Asad Qaiser, Salman Akram Raja and Shahid Khattak were barred from leading the election campaign in the region for the upcoming June 7 polls.
Replying to a question, Shafi Jan said that PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan’s lawyer had issued a statement on resignation from assemblies in the backdrop of expulsion of PTI leaders from UK.
When asked to disclose details of the party’s strategy regarding resignations, the KP Information Minister said:
“This is just the beginning and a thorough meeting of the political committee must take place on this topic. We want to continue with this system, but there is no respite for us in this system.”
In a similar statement last week, senior PTI leader and former National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser had warned that his party was “seriously considering” exiting the system, while emphasizing the need for a new Charter of Democracy in the country.
The former NA president said PTI also had other options if the party founded by Imran Khan did not have a political space in the country.
“If this does not happen, we will go out of the system. We are working to ensure our legal rights and our mandate must be respected. If our mandate is not respected, we can take any decision,” he warned.
When asked if the former ruling party was considering mass resignations from the legislature as well as dissolution of the PTI-dominated KP Assembly, Qaiser said:
“There are different ways to leave the system, but no final decision has been made so far. However, we are seriously considering not being left with any options. [but to exit the system] if the system continues to operate in the same way.
