• Party spox says KP Assembly will not be dissolved until schedule for polls is announced
• Raoof says meeting with JUI-F to be held soon
• Fazl does not make things up, says spokesperson; claims over eight sittings held with PTI

The last time the PTI disbanded the provincial assemblies in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Dec 2022 to force general elections, the former ruling party paid dearly for the hasty move.

This time around, it seems to be in no mood to repeat the same mistake, even though rumour mills are rife with reports about a possible plan to dissolve the KP Assembly in a bid to force snap elections.

These reports came to limelight on Saturday in the wake of a meeting between the JUI-F and the PTI delegations, with the former claiming that the PTI was willing to dissolve the provincial assembly and resign en masse from parliament for transparent elections. The reports, however, were shot down by the PTI top brass the same day, but confusion persisted about the fate of the dialogue between the PTI and the JUI-F, apparently focused on fresh polls.

In light of its past experience, the PTI is wary of quitting parliament again, with its spokesperson rhetorically asking: ‘Why would we repeat the same mistake’.

The ‘mistake’ Raoof Hasan is referring to was the dissolution of the KP and Punjab Assembly which were dissolved by the PTI leadership almost six months following the no-confidence motion against then-prime minister Imran Khan in April 2022.

The move, however, resulted in extended caretaker set-ups in these two provinces, much to the chagrin of the PTI. The plan to force the government to go towards polls also failed and the PTI instead bore the brunt of its decision.

“How can we repeat the same [mistake] which we committed in the past? We have decided to remain in parliament and will continue to struggle from within parliament. I have talked to Asad Qaiser and he said that none of our members have given assurance to the JUI-F that we are ready to resign from the KP Assembly,” PTI Information Secretary Raoof Hasan told Dawn.

Mr Hasan said the last time they resigned from the assemblies they thought the incumbent rulers would go for elections within the prescribed timeframe of 90 days, but “they do not believe in democracy and Constitution”. He added that there was no chance of repeating the same.

He, however, did agree that in case the government called snap elections in the country then the PTI would resign from the KP Assembly.

“At the moment, the opposition parties have about eight seats in the province [KP] and in case of re-election, the PTI will win even these eight seats as well,” he said.

As misinformation mars the dialogue between the PTI and the JUI-F, the PTI spokesperson said the discussion between the committees should be paid heed to instead of ‘statements’. According to the PTI leader, the talks between the two parties would continue and a PTI committee comprising Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, Omar Ayub, Asad Qaiser, Senator Shibli Faraz, and himself would meet the JUI-F leadership in a day or two.

On the other hand, JUI-F social media head Ayaz Muhammad told Dawn that so far there had been 8-10 meetings between the two parties. “The last meeting was held a few days ago and it was attended by PTI leaders, including Asad Qaiser. Maulana Fazlur Rehman shared about the decision of the PTI during a meeting with the journalists and he is not a person who would make anything up,” he added.

The confusion prevailed on Saturday after the JUI-F and PTI made contradictory claims about dissolving the KP Assembly and resigning from other assemblies to force the government to call for new elections.

In a statement released by its media cell, JUI-F claimed that PTI was willing to dissolve the KP Assembly and resign from other assemblies to hold fair and transparent elections in the country. The PTI issued a swift denial saying that no such move is currently on the cards.

Published in Dawn, July 22nd, 2024