By Staff Reporter
LAHORE: Leaders of Pakistan’s main opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party insisted on Sunday that they would only enter into negotiations with the government on equal terms, pledging to continue street protests until authorities recognise their demands for fairness in politics.
The declaration came as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s chief minister, Sohail Afridi, traveled to Lahore to kick off a new wave of demonstrations, following instructions from the party’s imprisoned founder, Imran Khan. Afridi, accompanied by other provincial ministers and assembly members, departed for the motorway after a day of meetings and attempted visits that highlighted the tensions between the opposition and the ruling coalition.
In a conversation with senior journalists at a private home in Lahore’s upscale Defence Housing Authority earlier that day, Afridi emphasized that any reconciliation would require prior resistance to level the playing field. “We will be at a loss if we enter into dialogue without resistance,” he said. “So, the protest movement will continue until the rulers come to the table after recognising the opposition as an equal partner.”
When asked if the party had been locked in endless protests without tangible results, Afridi pushed back. “This time, we will not make tall claims but do practical work and come up with a positive output,” he said.
Salman Akram Raja, the party’s secretary-general, said no political group could afford to be cornered indefinitely. “We are seeing that the government want the PTI to neither speak about its election fraud, the release of incarcerated party founder Imran Khan, nor question institutions’ interference in politics and journalism,” Raja said. “Then what should we do?” He added that true dialogue could only start once “basic principles” were mutually accepted. Without that, he warned, the party would mobilize on the streets to force the issue.
The push for protests follows Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s offer last Tuesday to hold talks with the opposition, though he stressed that discussions must focus on “legitimate matters. After the journalists’ meeting, Afridi tried to visit the homes of party leaders, including Mirza Afridi, but was barred from entering the Lahore cantonment area. He had also planned to meet the families of the jailed former Punjab governor, Omar Sarfraz Cheema, and the advocate Hassan Niazi.
Afridi described the cantonment as having been turned into a “no-go area.” “I have asked whether Pakistan’s territory ended here and another country’s land started,” he said. Th KP’s chief minister expressed frustration at the Punjab government’s handling of the situation. “The Punjab government should not have behaved in such a harsh manner with the chief minister of a province,” Afridi said. “This has all been happening with me for the past three consecutive days.”
Afridi noted that he had repeatedly requested access to the party leaders’ residences in the cantonment but was denied. He demanded an explanation “in writing” for the restriction. Raja added that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister was even willing to proceed without his security detail or provincial police escorts, yet permission was still withheld. “The KP CM is also ready to go without his gunmen and KP police, but is still not being allowed,” he said.
The opposition’s moves drew sharp criticism from the ruling side. Azma Bokhari, Punjab’s information minister, mocked the PTI’s street campaign, calling it a flop that had been overhyped on social media but fizzled in reality. In a post on X Bokhari said PTI supporters had been “celebrating by sharing images of Bangladesh since last night,” alluding to recent unrest there, but the daytime protests in Lahore drew no crowds.
She claimed the movement “failed to attract any public response during the day,” with “no one even to respond to the slogans raised by the protesters.” Taking aim at the demonstrators, Bokhari said they had “toured the ‘Europe of Pakistan,’ Lahore, enough under heavy protocol” and urged them to head home. “Please, let Lahore breathe in peace,” she wrote.
Bokhari called on PTI leaders to shift their attention to governance in their own province. She said they should “go back and address the issues of the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa instead,” rather than mounting what she dismissed as ineffective protests in Punjab.
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