By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD : Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan asserted Wednesday that the party remains united despite persistent rumors of internal rifts, issuing a warning to the coalition government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif against any attempts to destabilise its administration in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
The statement followed a high-level meeting of PTI lawmakers in Islamabad, where Gohar, joined by senior party leaders, discussed a controversial ruling on reserved seats, the party’s future, and the prospect of dialogue with the government. At the core of the discussions was PTI founder Imran Khan, imprisoned since August 2023, whose release remains a central demand.
“We discussed the aftermath of the reserved seat ruling, which was the first time that the party formed a strategy together,” Gohar told a news briefing. “It is our decision that we will stand up together for Imran Khan. We have no personal conflict, we are and will remain united and a message of unity needed to be sent in today’s meeting.”
The press conference came a day after four jailed PTI leaders, former Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Dr. Yasmin Rashid, Mian Mehmood-ur-Rasheed, and Omar Sarfraz Cheema, urged talks with political and institutional stakeholders. In a letter, they described Pakistan’s current situation as its worst crisis in decades, a position at odds with Khan’s rejection of dialogue with the ruling coalition.
Khan, a former prime minister, has insisted on engaging only with Pakistan’s influential military. In a message relayed by his sister, Aleema Khan, after a jail visit, he accused the government of electoral fraud and called for protests after Muharram 10th, expecting large crowds at Adiala jail.
Gohar reaffirmed loyalty to Khan, saying, “Whatever Khan sahib decides, we will execute it.” Yet Gohar pushed back against claims of outright rejection of talks. “Khan has always supported dialogue,” he said. “This is incorrect, from the beginning, Khan sahib said that there should be dialogue,” he said. “Even after our mandate was stolen, he said that. You have taken our seats, but you have registered cases against three of our MNAs, yet Khan sahib says that dialogue needs to be meaningful.”
He accused the government of insincerity, pointing to its refusal to grant PTI access to Imran as a major hurdle.
However, media reported that behind the public display of unity, background briefings revealed deep mistrust among PTI leaders, with doubts about each other’s sincerity and the authenticity of messages from Imran Khan.
That unease spilled into the open in KP, where provincial president Junaid Akbar Khan accused Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur of sidelining his allies and slashing development funds for supportive lawmakers. Akbar also targeted Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif, the provincial government’s spokesperson, alleging he echoed the military’s narrative.
Saif shot back, dismissing Akbar as a complainer unfit for leadership. “Those who work don’t make accusations,” Saif said. “If his job is only to cry, he should step down.”
He defended his meetings with Khan as authorised, while Akbar noted he hasn’t seen the party leader in six months. Despite the friction, Akbar stressed at the press conference that Imran Khan’s decisions override internal discord.
Chief Minister Gandapur, a central figure in PTI’s regional stronghold, issued a challenge to other parties and military establishment eyeing the KP government. “If you have it in you, I challenge your strength and I challenge the state … if you are able to topple our government, then I will leave politics,” he told the news conference. “No matter how hard they try, our government cannot be brought down through constitutional means.”
Gandapur labeled the Sharif’s government a “disgraceful stain on the state and its institutions” and accused it of stealing PTI’s mandate.
He also condemned the 26th Constitutional Amendment as an “attack on the judiciary” and a “blot on Pakistan’s judicial and democratic systems,” alleging that the May 9 events, when PTI supporters attached military facilities, were a pretext to target Imran Khan.
“Our authority and this government belong entirely to the PTI founder,” he said. “Whenever he gives the order, the government can be dissolved.”
Gohar echoed the resolve to protect KP, noting that even if the opposition gained the 25 reserved seats from the province, they would fall 35 members short of a majority. “Those who want to bring a no-confidence motion do not have the required numbers to move even a resolution,” he said. “We will protect the KP government at all costs.”
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