PTI leaders say dialogue without ‘level playing field’ a ‘losing game’

• KP CM Afridi says resistance prerequisite for reconciliation, stressing fresh protest launched on Imran Khan’s directives
• Vows protest movement to continue until rulers come to table after recognising opposition as an ‘equal partner’
• Salman Akram Raja rules out dialogue without agreement on ‘basic principles,’ vowing public mobilisation to force government to table
• KP CM spends busy day, expresses solidarity with families of jailed party figures during visit to their residences, pays respect at Mazar-i-Iqbal
• Punjab minister Azma Bokhari mocks protests, says movement failed to draw crowds

LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leadership has categorically ruled out entering into dialogue with the government from what it describes as a position of weakness, insisting that any talks can only take place after the party secures a “level playing field” through sustained public mobilisation and street protests.

The stance underscores PTI’s continued preference for pressure politics over quiet engagement, even as the government signals conditional openness to negotiations.

The position was articulated by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and PTI Secretary-General Salman Akram Raja during a series of meetings in Lahore, where senior party leaders convened to launch a renewed street movement on the directives of incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan. The meetings reflected the party’s resolve to escalate agitation while setting preconditions for any possible reconciliation with the ruling coalition.

CM Afridi, accompanied by provincial ministers and party lawmakers, arrived in Lahore to formally initiate the fresh phase of protests as instructed by Imran Khan. After a day of political engagements, the chief minister departed for the motorway at around 6:40pm.

مزار اقبالؒ پر سلمان اکرام راجہ اور وزیر اعلی صاحب کی میڈیا سے گفتگو۔ #ReadyForStreetMovement pic.twitter.com/BleAMyhmNh

— PTI (@PTIofficial) December 28, 2025

Earlier, during an interaction with senior journalists at a private residence in Lahore’s Defence Housing Authority, CM Afridi asserted that dialogue without resistance would undermine the party’s political position. “We will be at a loss if we enter into dialogue without resistance. So, the protest movement will continue until the rulers come to the table after recognising the opposition as an equal partner,” he said.

وزیراعلیٰ خیبر پختونخوا محمد سہیل خان آفریدی آج اپنے دورۂ لاہور کے تیسرے روز صحافیوں سے ملاقات کر رہے ہیں۔ اس ملاقات میں سینئر صحافیوں اور معروف اینکر پرسنز نے شرکت کی
pic.twitter.com/D1DNVl1tM1

— PTI (@PTIofficial) December 28, 2025

وزیرِاعلیٰ خیبر پختونخوا @SohailAfridiISF لاہور میں میڈیا کے نمائندوں سے ملاقات کر رہے ہیں
pic.twitter.com/ARhpr8eaUs

— PTI (@PTIofficial) December 28, 2025

Responding to a question on whether PTI had remained stuck in a cycle of protests without tangible outcomes, Afridi said the party was recalibrating its approach. “This time, we will not make tall claims but do practical work and come up with a positive output,” he said, stressing that the new movement would be measured in action rather than rhetoric.

کل میں فوڈ سٹریٹ جانا چاہا تو وہاں کی لائٹس بند کر دی گئیں پوری سٹریٹ بند کر دی گئی کل ہم جہاں جہاں جا رہے تھے وہاں دوکانیں اور لائٹس بند کر دی گئیں لوگوں کو مارا پیٹا گیا۔ آج مزار میں لوگوں کو روک دیا گیا۔ مجھے بیرسٹر حسان نیازی اور عمر سرفراز چیمہ کے گھر نہیں جانے دیا گیا۔… pic.twitter.com/z06nK4IR84

— PTI (@PTIofficial) December 28, 2025

PTI Secretary-General Salman Akram Raja echoed the chief minister’s position, stating that no political party could afford to walk into a blind alley. He accused the government of attempting to silence PTI on key issues. “We are seeing that the government want the PTI to neither speak about its election fraud, the release of incarcerated party founder Imran Khan, nor question institutions’ interference in politics and journalism. Then what should we do?” he asked.

Raja said reconciliation and dialogue could only proceed once “basic principles” were agreed upon. Failing that, he said, PTI would take to the streets to force acceptance of those principles through public pressure.

وزیر اعلٰی سہیل آفریدی کا لاہور : تیسرا دن

علامہ اقبال رحمت اللہ علیہ کے مزار پر دعا۔#سٹریٹ_موومنٹ_کی_تیاری_پکڑیں pic.twitter.com/4zQqk0yOBA

— PTI (@PTIofficial) December 28, 2025

Following the media interaction, CM Afridi visited the residence of party leader Mirza Afridi before heading towards the Lahore cantonment area, where he planned to meet the families of incarcerated former Punjab governor Omar Sarfraz Cheema and advocate Hassan Niazi. However, he was stopped from entering the cantonment, triggering sharp criticism from PTI leaders.

“The cantonment has been made a no-go area,” the KP chief minister said, questioning the legality of the restriction. “I have asked whether Pakistan’s territory ended here and another country’s land started,” he remarked, expressing frustration over what he described as repeated obstruction over the past three days.

یہ پاکستان کو کس طرف لے کر جا رہے ہیں آج لاہور میں تیسرا دن ہے اور ہمارے ساتھ مسلسل یہ سلوک ہو رہا ہے ۔

وزیر اعلیٰ سہیل آفریدی
pic.twitter.com/YJSu1T6iNE

— PTI (@PTIofficial) December 28, 2025

Afridi lamented what he termed harsh treatment by the Punjab government, saying he had repeatedly sought permission to visit party leaders’ residences inside the cantonment but was denied. He demanded that authorities provide a written explanation for stopping him.

Salman Akram Raja said the KP chief minister had even offered to proceed without his security detail, including KP police and gunmen, but was still not allowed to enter the area.

Later, CM Afridi met Hassan Niazi’s mother, Noreen Khan, along with other family members, at the residence of Punjab Assembly member Zamirul Hassan Bhatti. During the meeting, Afridi expressed solidarity with the families of jailed PTI leaders and offered prayers for the early release of political detainees. Participants emphasised the need for legal justice, restraint and dialogue, while also calling for respect for the human rights of prisoners.

The developments come days after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif extended an offer of talks to the opposition while maintaining that any dialogue would be confined to what he termed “legitimate matters.”

For now, PTI leaders insist that the road to negotiations runs through public mobilisation rather than behind-the-scenes engagement, signalling that political tensions are likely to persist in the near term.

‘Street movement failed to attract public’: Azma

Meanwhile, Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari ridiculed PTI’s street movement, claiming its “reality was exposed in daylight after social media hype overnight.”

In a post on X, Bokhari said PTI supporters had been circulating images from Bangladesh since the previous night, but the movement failed to attract any public response during the day. She said there was no one even to respond to slogans raised by protesters.

ماشااللہ سڑیٹ موومنٹ ،کل رات سے بنگلہ دیش کی تصویریں لگا کے خوش ہو رہے تھے،آج دن کی روشنی میں پول کھل گیا،کوئی نعروں کا جواب دینے والا بھی نا ملا
بہت سیر کرلی پاکستان کے یورپ لاہور کی ،اب خدا کے لیے واپس تشریف لے جائیں اور لاہور کو سکھ کا سانس لینے دیں،بہت پروٹوکول میں لاہور دیکھ… https://t.co/3Z7cMZCIAh

— Azma Zahid Bokhari (@AzmaBokhariPMLN) December 28, 2025

Taking a jibe at PTI leaders, she said they had “toured the ‘Europe of Pakistan,’ Lahore, enough under heavy protocol” and should now return. “Please, let Lahore breathe in peace,” she remarked, urging PTI leaders to focus on addressing governance and public welfare issues in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa instead of staging what she termed ineffective protests in Punjab.