ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the opposition grand alliance on Monday agreed to formulate a joint strategy on national issues and improve 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 figures, including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi.
Afridi attended the meeting, held at the residence of National Assembly opposition leader Mahmood Khan Achakzai, on the instructions of jailed PTI founder Imran Khan.
Other attendees included Senate Opposition Leader 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, obstructions in signing legal documents, denial of access to justice, the upcoming federal budget, the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award, provincial entitlements and fiscal federalism, the overall political situation and cases allegedly based on political vendetta.
The participants agreed to formulate a joint 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 about Imran Khan’s health, particularly reports of significant vision loss due to delay in medical care while he remains in Adiala Jail.
Opposition figures, including CM Afridi, have alleged that Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi have been denied proper access to family, doctors and legal facilities despite court orders.
Imran Khan has assigned Mahmood Khan Achakzai and Allama Raja Nasir Abbas the task of guiding all important political and parliamentary decisions, while tasking Sohail Afridi to lead the street agitation front.
Afridi has been leading the PTI street movement following the directives of 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 it announced that “there will soon be a very large protest call” and large-scale participation is expected from across the country.
Monday’s meeting appears aimed at aligning the intense street unrest with Imran Khan’s parliamentary strategy on health, constitutional rights and fiscal federalism.
In recent months, the PTI and the grand opposition alliance have struggled to gain ground, largely due to internal divisions as well as ongoing regional hostilities that have put domestic political issues on the back burner.
However, the opposition group now appears set to capitalize on the recent rise in fuel prices that has angered the public.
The KP chief minister is also planning a visit to Lahore next month in an effort to revive the party’s fortunes in the country’s most politically important province.
