PTI weighs quitting assemblies over what it calls shrinking political space

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf is considering stepping down from legislatures, with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Minister Shafi Jan saying the move is being discussed in response to what the party describes as a narrowing political space for the opposition.

Speaking on Geo News programme Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath on Thursday, Shafi Jan said other political leaders, including PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and PML-N President Nawaz Sharif, were freely campaigning in Gilgit-Baltistan ahead of the June 7 polls, while PTI had not been given even what he termed breathing space.

He said PTI leaders Junaid Akbar, Asad Qaiser, Salman Akram Raja and Shahid Khattak had been stopped from taking part in the election campaign in Gilgit-Baltistan for the upcoming vote. According to Shafi Jan, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan’s statement about resigning from assemblies was made in the context of PTI leaders being expelled from the region.

Asked about the party’s strategy on possible resignations, the KP minister said the matter was still at an early stage and would be taken up in detail by the party’s political committee. He said PTI wanted to remain part of the present system but believed it was not being allowed sufficient room within it.

This is just a beginning, and a detailed meeting of the political committee is due to be held on this matter. We want to continue with this system, but there is no breathing space for us in this system.

Earlier remarks by Asad Qaiser

Last week, PTI senior leader and former National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser had also said the party was seriously examining the option of leaving the system, while calling for a new Charter of Democracy in the country.

He said PTI had other options as well if the party was not given political space. Qaiser said the party was trying to secure what he described as its legal rights and insisted that its mandate should be respected.

If this does not happen, we will exit the system. We are striving to secure our legal rights, and our mandate must be respected. If our mandate is not respected, we can take any decision,

When asked whether PTI was considering collective resignations from the legislature and even the dissolution of the PTI-led Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, Qaiser said no final decision had yet been taken. He added, however, that the party was seriously considering leaving the system if it continued to operate in the same way.

There are various ways of leaving the system, but no final decision has been made so far. However, we are seriously considering that we will not be left with any option [but to exit the system] if the system continues to function in the same manner.