• Party’s core committee to challenge ECP’s delimitation process
• Criticises Bilawal on talks with TTP
• Party board meets today to allot tickets for by-polls in Punjab

ISLAMABAD: The core committee of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) on Sunday warned that there would be a stern reaction in case party chairman Imran Khan was arrested.

It also announced that the party would challenge the delimitation of constituencies carried out by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and removal of voters from lists.

The meeting questioned Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s silence over holding of talks with the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) which he had vehemently opposed when the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) was in opposition.

The PTI’s core committee met in Banigala after Imran Khan, who had been staying in Peshawar after the public meeting in Multan on May 20, reached Islamabad.

According to party sources, the former prime minister will remain in the capital.

The committee announced that it would hold the parliamentary board’s meeting on Monday (today) to allot tickets for the by-elections for Punjab Assembly seats.

Later talking to mediapersons, PTI’s vice chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi said following Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah’s threat, the core committee decided that a strong reaction would be shown if Imran Khan was arrested.

“It will be a foolish political step to arrest Mr Khan; there will be a very strong reaction from workers. The committee has advised them to immediately react if they come to know of Imran’s arrest through media or social media,” Mr Qureshi said.

“Don’t wait for any signal from the party, start protesting wherever you are. You are political workers therefore plan a peaceful political reaction,” he said while addressing party workers through media.

The PTI vice chairman alleged that the ECP had shown biasness while carrying out delimitation of constituencies and claimed that the names of a number of voters had been removed from the voters’ list.

He also criticised the amendment to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) law, saying that amendments were made to benefit some influential people.

Criticising the PPP leadership, the former foreign minister said when Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari was in opposition he spoke against negotiations with the TTP.

“After becoming the foreign minister, why is he quiet on talks with the TTP; why is he following PTI’s policies,” he said.

He said President Dr Arif Alvi had written a letter to the Supreme Court about the cipher whose contents clearly suggested a regime change.

“Question arises that why the guardians of the country have remained silent over it. They should take notice,” he added.

Talking about the notices issued by National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf to the PTI legislators, asking them to appear before him in person for confirmation of their resignations, Mr Qureshi said the members had already resigned and former speaker Qasim Suri had accepted and notified the resignations. He said it had therefore been decided that the PTI members would not appear before the speaker.

Talking about the country’s economy, the senior PTI leader said prices of petroleum products had been increased by Rs60 in a week, electricity tariff was raised by around Rs8 per unit while the rate of gas would go up by 45pc with effect from July 1.

He said according to estimates, inflation could reach between 25pc to 30pc.

The former foreign minister said the committee had decided to activate overseas Pakistanis to stand for their rights and boycott a TV channel that was running a designed campaign against the party.

Meanwhile, former interior minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said the core committee had decided not to accept the government and would hold talks with it only about the next general elections.

Talking to media, Mr Ahmed made it clear that there would be a severe reaction if Imran Khan was arrested, adding that a movement would be started against price hike.

On the other hand, former minister Murad Saeed said it was unfortunate that both father and son had become the prime minister and chief minister, respectively, despite facing corruption cases in the courts.

He said Imran Khan had addressed most of the issues of Pakistan and things were moving in the right direction until the PTI government’s tenure was cut short.

After the meeting, PTI leader Fayyazul Hassan Chohan said for the last few days it was being said that a sedition case would be registered against Mr Khan, adding that such a plan could only be made by enemies of Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2022