ISLAMABAD (MNN); Senate Opposition Leader Allama Raja Nasir Abbas said Saturday that only Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan could decide whether to postpone the party’s planned nationwide protest and march towards Islamabad on September 27.
The PTI has announced a countrywide protest, including a march towards the federal capital, seeking the release of Imran Khan and calling for what the party describes as the supremacy of the Constitution and protection of democratic rights. The Tehreek-i-Tahafuz-i-Ayin-i-Pakistan (TTAP), an opposition alliance in which Abbas is a prominent leader, has also expressed support for the protest.
In a post on X, Abbas said Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi had met him and that he had conveyed the position that no one other than Imran Khan could decide to postpone the September 27 protest.
“No one can minus Imran,” Abbas wrote.
TTAP spokesperson Akhunzada Hussain Ahmed Yousufzai said the meeting with Naqvi had taken place on September 14 at the interior minister’s request. According to him, Abbas and PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan participated from the opposition side. Other reports have also confirmed Abbas’s meeting with Naqvi and said that matters concerning Imran Khan and the proposed march were discussed.
Speaking to reporters after a press conference at Khyber Pakhtunkhwa House in Islamabad, Abbas said Naqvi had come to meet the opposition and that their position was clear: no individual could postpone the September 27 march without a meeting with Imran Khan.
He said Imran Khan could not be excluded from the decision-making process and that no issue concerning the planned political activity could be resolved without consultation with the PTI founder.
Opposition highlights public and constitutional issues
During his press conference, Abbas said provision of basic facilities to citizens and protection of constitutional rights were among the major issues confronting the country.
He also referred to remarks attributed to a senior federal minister acknowledging serious problems in the country’s system.
TTAP leader and former Sindh governor Mohammad Zubair said there was a significant difference between the lifestyle of the ruling elite and the economic difficulties experienced by ordinary citizens.
Zubair claimed that poverty, unemployment and inflation had increased compared with around four and a half years earlier. He also said electricity prices had risen substantially, while citizens had accepted economic hardships in the expectation that conditions would improve.
PTI leader and former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa finance minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra criticised government expenditure and questioned reported spending on official travel and the purchase of a jet said to have cost Rs10 billion.
Jhagra argued that every rupee of public money should be accounted for and questioned why greater relief was not being provided to citizens facing higher fuel prices.
Government warns against march towards capital
The opposition statements came days after Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said the government would prevent anyone from marching towards Islamabad through measures available to it.
Naqvi also warned that those violating the recent Islamabad High Court ruling could face contempt proceedings.
The IHC, while hearing a petition concerning the planned PTI gatherings, observed that political parties have the right to protest but that such activity remains subject to the Constitution and law. The court also held that activities resulting in infringement of citizens’ fundamental rights would constitute a violation of the Constitution.
KP CM meets opposition leaders
Earlier on Saturday, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi met National Assembly Opposition Leader Mahmood Khan Achakzai and Senate Opposition Leader Allama Raja Nasir Abbas in Islamabad to discuss the PTI’s September 27 protest.
According to a statement issued by TTAP, the meeting involved detailed consultations on the future course of action, political strategy and ways of advancing what the alliance described as a democratic struggle.
The participants discussed moving forward with the September 27 call as an organised political campaign focused, according to the statement, on constitutional supremacy, democratic and provincial rights and protection of the public mandate.
The three leaders had also met earlier in the week to discuss preparations for the protest.
The KP chief minister has separately travelled to Sindh and Punjab as part of efforts to mobilise PTI supporters ahead of the planned protest. Earlier reports said Afridi had described September 27 as the date for a march towards Islamabad and said the plan had been discussed with PTI leadership and opposition figures including Achakzai and Abbas.
During his Punjab visit, Afridi alleged that authorities in Lahore had detained him and later left him by the roadside. The Punjab government rejected the allegation, while Wazirabad police said a person identified by Afridi as being involved in an alleged threat was actually a police constable deployed on security duty.
Meanwhile, the administrations of Islamabad and Rawalpindi have been preparing for the announced march, including arrangements concerning additional personnel, containers and anti-riot equipment.
The September 27 protest remains a major point of political mobilisation for the PTI and allied opposition groups, while the government has emphasised that any protest must remain within the limits set by the Constitution, law and court orders.
