ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Secretary General Salman Akram Raja on Tuesday indirectly declined to recognise Barrister Gohar Ali Khan as the party chairman, stating that only Imran Khan is the chairman of the party and “no one else”.
Speaking to reporters at a checkpoint near the Adiala jail in Rawalpindi, he said, “Only Imran Khan is the party chairman, while the state of affairs and treatment to us from the Election Commission is before all. All these are manifestations of coercion and all know what exactly the situation is.” He was responding to a question about who could be the next chairman after Barrister Gohar appeared to be sidelined.
Meanwhile, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said that if the matter of negotiations has reached the level of a meeting of “five elders,” then it should not be considered. He said they have never called off negotiations but there is no logic in talking about five elders.” He contended, “I am in office as long as the founder has trust in me.”
While on his way to meet the party’s founder Imran Khan, Gohar told reporters at the Dehgal checkpoint, “How will the negotiations take place when meetings are not allowed? We come every Tuesday and leave without meeting. It has been more than a month since anyone met the founder.”
The PTI chairman said that by making the meetings controversial, “how will the talks move forward while a heavy price is being demanded to normalise the situation.”
He said the system has become silent while there has been no leadership meeting since February last year. “There are instructions from the founder regarding the street movement; no committee of the party can ignore these instructions. Protest is our right and the party has a plan of action.”
He announced that there will be a shutter-down and wheel-jam strike across the country on February 8 and “a full-scale protest will be recorded.” He again underlined that a meeting of Imran Khan’s sisters and lawyers is necessary to normalise the situation. He also called for the issuance of notifications for Mahmood Khan Achakzai and Allama Raja Nasir as leaders of opposition in the National Assembly and Senate, respectively, insisting they be issued before the next session.
Gohar pointed out that the issue of “begging” was distorted. He said the PPP is expected to allow the rally in Sindh. “We support the issue of giving full protocol to the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and appreciate the provincial government,” he remarked.
