ISLAMABAD: An alliance of opposition parties, on Tuesday, resolved to increase coordination in order to give the government a tough time.
At a dinner, hosted by Tehreek-i-Tahaffuz-i-Ayeen-i-Pakistan chief Mehmood Khan Achakzai, opposition leaders Fazlur Rehman, Asad Qaiser, Omar Ayub, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Sardar Latif Khosa, Arif Khan, Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar and others agreed to hold a multi-party conference.
A steering committee headed by former PM Abbasi was formed to coordinate the event, which will also include Mr Qaiser, Shibli Faraz, Kamran Murtaza, Sahibzada Hamid Raza, Sajid Tareen, Akhundzada Hussain and Mr Khokhar.
Separately, the PTI is said to be weighing a suggestion that it should approach the visiting International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation to brief it about its stance regarding the Feb 8, 2024 elections, which the party considers “rigged”.
PTI considering contact with IMF over ‘rigging’ concerns; decries arrest of MNA, non-issuance of production orders by NA speaker
The delegation will also be informed about consequences of the 26th amendment.
Sources added, however, that it was being examined whether protocols allow the party to approach the IMF’s office in Pakistan, or not.
The sources recalled that an IMF delegation itself decided to meet the PTI when an interim government held the reins in Islamabad from Aug 2023 to March last year because it saw the party as “government in waiting”.
If the IMF team agreed to meet PTI, Leader of the Opposition in National Assembly Omar Ayub and the party’s secretary general, Salman Akram Raja, will meet the delegation and hand over the 349-page letter written recently by former prime minister Imran Khan to Chief Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Aminuddin.
Sheikh Waqqas Akram, the PTI’s information secretary, told Dawn his party had not sought time from the IMF delegation as “protocols are being considered”.
“But if the IMF delegation wants to meet us, the letter written to the CJP will be shared with it. It has also been suggested that the organisation’s local office be approached first,” he said.
26th amendment
Asad Qaiser, another PTI leader, told Dawn that “we’ll apprise the IMF about implications of the 26th amendment” if a meeting materialises.
“We will tell the delegation that non-elected people in parliament are making policies against the nation’s interests. We want to ensure that civil rights are respected because, unfortunately, executive has taken over control of the judiciary and is using it for its own interests,” he said.
Asad Qaiser said the judiciary should protect the “national interest rather than interests of the powers that be”. He said Imran Khan had “worked out a strategy” and the party was determined to implement it.
In a press conference held at Parliament House, Omar Ayub and Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said they spoke about the arrest of Mian Ghous, a member of the National Assembly, at a parliamentary committee meeting, but even then the National Assembly Speaker did not issue production orders.
Sahibzada Hamid Raza said the Inspector General was to submit a report regarding the Nov 26 faceoff in a parliamentary session, but it was removed from the agenda.
“But Speaker Ayaz Sadiq told us today that he did not order removal from the agenda. We know there was pressure on the staff,” he said.
Published in Dawn, February 12th, 2025
