ISLAMABAD: The Tehreek-e-Tahafuz-e-Ayin-e-Pakistan (TTAP), a grand opposition alliance, on Thursday suspended all negotiations with the government, linking any resumption of dialogue to a meeting with jailed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founding chairman Imran Khan and disclosure of information about his health.
At a meeting chaired by its chairman, Mehmood Khan Achakzai, the TTAP decided that Achakzai would be the alliance’s sole authorised interlocutor in any negotiations with the government.
“All authority to negotiate with the government would rest exclusively with the TTAP chairman,” it added.
The alliance made clear that talks would remain off the table until the government arranged access to Imran Khan and provided information about his medical condition.
The meeting condemned the federal government’s intervention in KP as a “robbery” and a midnight assault on the Constitution and the people’s mandate.
It demanded the immediate withdrawal of the emergency and governor’s rule, describing the measures as an infringement of not only the political rights of the people of KP but also the constitutional rights of citizens across the country.
The alliance also demanded the immediate release of KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati, PTI provincial president Junaid Akbar, and all arrested members of the National Assembly and provincial assembly, along with other party leaders.
The PTI reported their detention on October 11, shortly after the federal government announced its intervention in the province.
The opposition also called for the release of Khan’s sisters, who, according to the alliance, have been detained for nearly three weeks under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Ordinance.
It demanded that they be freed and that the former prime minister be allowed to meet his family and doctors.
The TTAP also condemned terrorism in all its forms, including attacks against civilians, what it described as state terrorism against the public, actions by state institutions against political parties, and sectarian violence.
While expressing support for the National Action Plan (NAP), the alliance rejected the need for fresh policy initiatives and demanded immediate implementation of the joint resolution adopted by the Aman Jirga and approved by the KP Assembly some months back.
The TTAP also blamed the deteriorating security situation in Balochistan on what it called an unrepresentative provincial administration and the federal government’s failed policies.
It argued that the provincial government did not reflect the genuine electoral mandate of the people and called for the province’s grievances to be addressed through dialogue rather than force.
The alliance said it would approach international human rights bodies and the UN over alleged constitutional and human rights violations, curbs on media freedom and restrictions on judicial independence.
The federal government imposed an emergency under Article 232 of the Constitution and governor’s rule under Article 234 on October 11, following a meeting of the federal cabinet that reviewed the security situation in PTI-governed KP.
The move has further intensified tensions between the PTI and the federal government, particularly after the imposition of emergency and governor’s rule in KP, which the party has described as an attempt to sideline a government elected with a two-thirds majority.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026