ISLAMABAD: Mahmood Khan Achakzai, Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party chief and head of the opposition alliance Tehreek Tahafuz Ayeen-e-Pakistan (TTAP), on Tuesday called for a national dialogue among all political parties to steer the country out of crisis.
Talking to the media, Achakzai urged all political forces to sit at the dialogue table for the “sake of the country”, saying: “The solution to all the problems still lies in dialogue.”
The seasoned politician said that everyone should apologise for the wrongs they committed in the past.
Responding to a question, the opposition leader said: “What harm is there if the PTI founder Imran Khan’s sisters meet him in Adiala Jail?”
Recently, Khan’s sisters have criticised the jail authorities for not allowing them to meet their brother despite the court’s order.
The PTI founder has been behind bars in multiple cases, ranging from corruption to terrorism, since his ouster from power via the opposition’s no-trust motion in April 2022.
Achakzai, in his media talk today, further said that PTI lawmakers should stage a protest in the assemblies until a meeting is arranged between Khan and his sisters. “There should be no politics of revenge under any circumstances,” he warned.
His remarks came as PTI, marking the second anniversary of its founder Khan’s incarceration, kicked off its protest movement with workers and activists taking to the streets in different parts of the country to demand the former prime minister’s release.
PTI sources claimed that at least 300 of its activists were detained by police in Lahore during overnight raids. At least seven members of the Punjab Assembly were also arrested in Lahore, AFP reported, quoting Zulfikar Bukhari.
The police, however, released the PTI lawmakers in the evening.
In a statement, the Punjab Police said that Deputy Opposition Leader in the Punjab Assembly Moeen Riaz Qureshi, MPs Farrukh Javed Moon, Khawaja Salahuddin, Shoaib Amir, Amanullah Khan, and Iqbal Khattak had been released.
Rehana Dar, who was among those detained from outside Aiwan-e-Adal, was also released, the PTI central media cell confirmed.
The former PM, in a message posted on the party’s X account, urged supporters to “come out and hold peaceful protests until a true democracy is restored in the country.”
The former cricket star was elected prime minister in 2018 but was ousted in 2022 through a no-confidence vote in parliament.
