Khan will only engage in dialogue with those who hold the mandate, says Gandapur as PTI launches 90-day protest plan
\n Peshawar
\nKhyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur on Saturday called on state institutions to engage in dialogue with the PTI, but demanded that they hold themselves accountable.
\nGandapur and the PTI\u2019s top leadership are on a visit to Lahore to formally launch a movement to seek the release of party founder Imran Khan and devise a strategy for its nationwide protest, which will reach its crescendo on August 5 \u2014 marking two years since the ex-premier was imprisoned.
\nSince Imran\u2019s incarceration in several cases, which he claims are politically motivated, his party\u2019s relationship with the government and the establishment has turned exceedingly sour. The PTI has held several protests over the last year, most of which escalated into violence after facing state repression.
\nAddressing a press conference flanked by PTI\u2019s Punjab leadership, CM Gandapur said: \u201cWe have to correct our institutions ourselves. Come, sit together, own your mistakes and move forward.\u201d He recalled that Imran, despite his wife also being imprisoned in a graft case, had repeatedly said he was ready to talk for the sake of the country.
\nImran was jailed on Aug 5, 2023 in a case related to state gifts, is serving a sentence at the Adiala Jail in the \u00a3190 million graft case and faces pending trials related to the May 9, 2023 riots. In the wake of the nationwide May 9 protests, which saw important military installations come under attack, thousands of PTI workers and almost the entire top-tier leadership were rounded up, with many still facing court proceedings under serious charges.
\n\u201cCome and talk, acknowledge and correct your mistakes,\u201d Gandapur reiterated today, noting that it was everyone\u2019s collective responsibility to think about Pakistan\u2019s future. \u201cThe state institutions have ignored their duties which are stated in the Constitution and are instead doing other work, due to which terrorism has [risen] in the country,\u201d he said, adding that the security situation in KP and Balochistan had worsened because \u201cthose responsible for guarding the borders were chasing the PTI instead\u201d.
\n\u201cThe state institutions, whose duty is not to engage in politics, are playing every role in forming, running and overthrowing governments,\u201d the PTI leader alleged. \u201cAnd when you ask, they reply with delight that \u2018we are non-political\u2019.\u201d Gandapur, stressing that he was a soldier\u2019s son and brother, said: \u201cMy military is being defamed due to a few wrong people and their decisions.\u201d
\nThe KP CM quipped: \u201cWhere are those who imposed martial laws? They are not in Pakistan today. Who is suffering? My Pakistanis.\u201d The chief minister called for a dialogue \u201cbased on reasons\u201d, saying he was ready to be punished severely if it was proven that he \u201cconspired\u201d. \u201cWhoever\u2019s mistake there is, they will admit it [\u2026] we are ready if they punish us, but if the matter comes to punishment, then every person [responsible] will be punished.\u201d
\nThe PTI leader urged \u201cthose who are the beneficiaries of this system and those who have hijacked it\u201d to hold talks, stressing that they are \u201canswerable\u201d and \u201cmust bear the burden\u201d for the country\u2019s economic situation and heightened terrorism. Gandapur also assailed the 26th Amendment passed in October last year, saying the judiciary had been \u201chandcuffed\u201d through it.
\nGandapur called on the political parties in the ruling coalition to go into the public, which he said had \u201crejected\u201d them. He cautioned that those parties will then face the consequences later on of the \u201cculture\u201d they had developed. Addressing their supporters, he said, \u201cThey (leaders of other political parties) will flee abroad. You have to stay here.\u201d
\nHe asked if it was \u201cright as a human and a Muslim\u201d if a PTI leader\u2019s home was raided and their privacy was violated. \u201cIf you are silent on this, then if this happens with you tomorrow, then no one will raise a voice for you either.\u201d Thanking PTI workers, leaders, its lawmakers and overseas supporters, Gandapur vowed to organise a grassroots movement upwards from the streets, towns, and cities.
\nA caravan of KP lawmakers led by CM Gandapur, as well as Opposition Leader in Punjab Assembly Malik Ahmad Khan Bhachar, reached Lahore via G.T. Road yesterday evening. During a layover in Jhelum, the KP CM said that the protest had been launched, and the parliamentary meeting in Lahore would mull the final protest strategy to step up the campaign seeking Imran\u2019s release.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Khan will only engage in dialogue with those who hold the mandate, says Gandapur as PTI launches 90-day protest plan Peshawar Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur on Saturday called on state institutions to engage in dialogue with the PTI, but demanded that they hold themselves accountable. Gandapur and the PTI\u2019s top leadership are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":490021,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-489999","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n