Suggested slug: opposition-wants-pm-to-initiate-dialogue
Category: National
Focus keyphrase: opposition demands talks with PM
SEO title: Opposition Demands PM’s Personal Invite for Talks (47 chars)
Meta description: Achakzai and Gohar say PM Shehbaz must invite the opposition for dialogue, as PTI reveals talks collapsed over Imran Khan’s physician access. (141 chars)
Tags: PTI, Mahmood Khan Achakzai, Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, Shehbaz Sharif, National Assembly, political dialogue, Imran Khan, Salman Akram Raja
Original element: explainer context — why the latest talks collapsed, built from our own prior coverage of the October negotiation rounds (linked below)
Opposition Wants PM to Personally Invite It for Dialogue
ISLAMABAD: The opposition said on Thursday that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif should personally invite it to the negotiating table if the government is serious about political dialogue, declaring that it could not trust a process its leaders say is mocked by those in power.
Achakzai and PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, speaking at a news conference outside Parliament House, criticised the government over stalled negotiations and curbs on parliamentarians.
“Pakistan comes first”
Gohar said the opposition had repeatedly entered negotiations with the government in good faith and without preconditions, but the process had failed to produce results.
“Our government went away while we kept negotiating with the government,” he said, in an apparent reference to the opposition’s attempts to keep the dialogue alive.
He also questioned the yardstick used to judge political leaders’ loyalty to the state. “We have always said that Pakistan comes first and the state comes first,” he said. “We are treated as though we are not loyal to the state. This perception must end.”
Gohar recalled the September 2024 episode in which opposition lawmakers were allegedly picked up from the parliament premises, and called for lawmakers to be protected so they could represent their constituents without fear.
Achakzai on speeches, production orders and the PM’s invite
Achakzai stressed that parliamentary speeches should be recorded in full, calling the complete official record a constitutional requirement.
“The complete speech of a member speaking in the National Assembly being recorded is a constitutional requirement,” he said.
He alleged that his four-and-a-half-minute speech in the National Assembly a day earlier had been presented as a nine-minute address, and rejected suggestions that his remarks were directed against the country.
The opposition leader said the time allotted to opposition lawmakers to speak in parliament had been curtailed, and questioned the inconsistent issuance of production orders for detained members.
On negotiations, Achakzai was blunt. Political dialogue required a meeting with PTI founder Imran Khan, he said, recalling that Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman had met the prime minister on the issue. The opposition had asked that the prime minister personally extend the invitation for talks.
“Negotiations cannot take place in an atmosphere where the process itself is being mocked,” he said.
“It is the duty of every citizen who wants to save Pakistan to stand up for democracy,” Achakzai said. “We will not hand Pakistan over to an undemocratic system,” he warned.
Raja reveals why talks collapsed
Separately, PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja rejected claims that the non-functional Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa chief minister, Sohail Afridi, was responsible for the breakdown of negotiations with the federal government.
In an interview with a private television channel on Thursday, Raja said the talks collapsed over two principal reasons: the denial of access to Imran Khan’s personal physicians, and concerns over provincial autonomy.
“These were the two principal reasons why the talks collapsed,” Raja said, alleging that the government had deliberately undermined the negotiations. He said PTI could not grant the federal government unrestricted authority to intervene in the affairs of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
Raja described the imposition of emergency and governor’s rule in the province as unconstitutional, alleging the measures were introduced to take control of the provincial administration. “They just wanted to take over the province,” he said.
He disclosed that an all-parties conference was being planned within the next 10 days, adding that several parties, including Fazlur Rehman’s JUI-F, were in contact with him.
Why this round of talks failed
The collapse Raja described is the latest in a string of failed negotiation attempts this month. Earlier rounds broke down amid sharply conflicting accounts: the government accused the K-P chief minister of sabotaging the dialogue, while PTI rejected the prime minister’s earlier talks offer outright. A second round was announced for October 4 as the party’s march advanced, and ministers traded blame with PTI over the deadlock.
Raja’s disclosure adds the concrete deal-breakers to that timeline: physician access for the jailed PTI founder and provincial autonomy.
Rule of law and party unity
Also speaking at the press conference, Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen chief Allama Raja Nasir Abbas said the rule of law and respect for the Constitution were essential for resolving Pakistan’s political and economic crises, and alleged that the February 8, 2024 general elections mandate had been stolen.
Gohar, meanwhile, moved to quash reports of rifts among PTI’s Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa lawmakers and reaffirmed that Sohail Afridi remained the party’s choice for K-P chief minister, a decision he said rested with the PTI founder.
