PESHAWAR: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf discussed its call for the Nov 24 protest in Islamabad for the second consecutive day here on Saturday.

The deliberations were held during a meeting at the Chief Minister’s House.

Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur chaired the meeting, which was attended by PTI MNAs, MPAs and district and tehsil office-bearers from Hazara and Malakand regions.

The party’s senior leadership from both regions was also in attendance.

A similar meeting was held with the PTI leadership from Punjab on Friday.

Another meeting to be held at CM House today

The Islamabad protest plan will be discussed with the leadership and lawmakers from the Peshawar and southern regions of the province on Sunday.

Participants of Saturday’s meeting included Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Omar Ayub, MPAs Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani, Laiq Mohammad Khan, Akbar Ayub Khan, Arshad Ayub Khan and Fazal Haq, and Insaf Student Federation leaders.

During the meeting, the senior PTI leaders said that since former prime minister Imran Khan had given the “final” protest call for his release, all party activists should ensure the maximum presence of people from both Hazara and Malakand regions in the federal capital on Nov 24.

Meanwhile, adviser to the chief minister on information and public relations Barrister Mohammad Ali Saif on Saturday said many countries were aware of the current political situation in the country, especially “political injustices.”

He told reporters at a hotel here that many foreign governments and parliamentarians, including those from European Union, UK and Spain, were aware of the “torture and arrests of and fake cases” against of PTI leaders and workers and had voiced concerns about them.

The aide to the CM said that the PTI didn’t hope that the US president would specifically address the detention of its leader and former prime minister Imran Khan.

He said Pakistan and the US had their own distinct issues and interests.

Mr Saif said that the issue of Mr Imran Khan’s detention had already been discussed in the US Congress under President Joe Biden.

Published in Dawn, November 17th, 2024