PTI KP Parliamentary Party Backs Gohar, Rejects Talk of Splits
The PTI’s Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa parliamentary party on Friday rejected reports of internal divisions and declared full confidence in chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan. The PTI KP parliamentary party said there was no grouping of any kind within the party, after a meeting attended by a majority of its members.
Gohar attended on special invitation, along with Provincial General Secretary Ali Asghar Khan and Acting Provincial President Noorul Haq Qadri.
The statement read: “The parliamentary party expressed complete confidence in the leadership of Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and clarified that there is no grouping of any kind in Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. All political and organisational matters of the party will be advanced in the light of the instructions of Founder Chairman Imran Khan, mutual consultation, and collective decisions.”
Why the PTI KP parliamentary party statement matters now
The declaration lands after weeks of visible friction. A day earlier, the PTI central secretariat ruled out any change in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa chief minister’s office, reaffirming that Sohail Afridi would continue with Imran Khan’s support.
Emergency and governor’s rule were declared in the province on October 11, after talks between the government and the opposition failed. Reports that Afridi had been detained emerged the same day, as the long march that began on October 4 moved towards Swabi. Since then, party leaders have exchanged barbs online, including former chief minister Ali Amin Gandapur and Secretary General Salman Akram Raja.
Friday’s statement appears designed to close down that perception of division. The meeting also decided the parliamentary party would receive effective representation in any future protest movement, negotiations or political strategy, and that consensus decisions of the parliamentary party must be respected.
Demands on governor’s rule and Imran’s health
The meeting opposed governor’s rule and emergency in the province as contrary to the public mandate, democratic principles and constitutional requirements, vowing to challenge them through constitutional, legal, judicial and political forums.
It also expressed reservations over the emergency and the transfer of administrative powers in 12 districts, including the merged tribal districts, opposed any reversal of the former tribal areas’ integration, and decided to convene a joint jirga of tribal elders and other parties to agree a common strategy.
The parliamentary party condemned what it described as political victimisation in the guise of counterterrorism measures, citing raids on workers’ homes, arrests, MPO detentions and the removal of PTI flags and signboards from development projects. “These actions be immediately stopped and that political workers be provided with their constitutional and legal rights,” it demanded.
It demanded authentic information about Imran’s medical condition, immediate access to him, and meetings for his family and lawyers, and voiced serious concern over the detention of his wife and sisters, calling for medical facilities, legal rights, justice for his wife and the sisters’ release.
Imran and his wife Bushra Bibi remain in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail, sentenced on December 20, 2025, to 17 years in the Toshakhana-II case. In January last year, an Islamabad accountability court sentenced Imran to 14 years and Bushra to seven years in the £190 million case.
Two days earlier, Noreen Niazi, 70, was admitted to Lahore’s Punjab Institute of Cardiology after her health deteriorated in custody, according to her legal counsel, who said the family was neither informed nor granted access. Noreen and Dr Uzma were detained on September 21, a day after Aleema Khan was held under Section 3 of the Punjab MPO Ordinance, 1960; the detention was extended on October 7 for 30 days.
The statement further condemned what it termed the unconstitutional detention or arrest of Afridi, the provincial assembly speaker and other elected representatives, demanding their immediate release and the restoration of their activities. It resolved to meet regularly and keep pressing for public rights, development projects, the public mandate, constitutional supremacy and democratic restoration.
Related recent coverage includes arrest warrants issued by a Peshawar anti-terrorism court in the Afridi case and Achakzai’s warning about opposition street protests.
The original report on the parliamentary party meeting was published by The Express Tribune.
What did the PTI KP parliamentary party decide?
It expressed complete confidence in chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and said there was no grouping within the party.
Who attended the meeting?
A majority of members attended, with Gohar, Ali Asghar Khan and Noorul Haq Qadri present on special invitation.
