ISLAMABAD: The opposition alliance Tehreek-i-Tahafuz-i-Ayeen-i-Pakistan (TTAP) held its multi-party conference on Thursday, appealing for a new social contract to restore the Constitution and democracy, claiming that government officials had blocked access to the original venue, forcing them to relocate.

The alliance was forced to move its conference to a private farmhouse after authorities placed barriers at its intended venue, Tulip Banquet Hall, organisers said

TTAP leader Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar said that when he and other leaders, including Mehmood Khan Achakzai, arrived at the Tulip Banquet Hall, the venue management was absent.

“Barriers were placed there and it was made impossible to go there,” Mr Khokhar said. “We held a press conference there and then we decided to move the venue to my farmhouse located in Tarlai.”

Urges ‘democratic’ forces to unite and draft a new charter to restore democracy

The conference, attended by opposition parties, lawyers, and media figures, criticised what speakers called the “undemocratic behaviour” of the government.

Speaking to the participants, Mr Achakzai said the group gathered for the supremacy of the constitution, freedom of the judiciary and media, and restoration of the ‘stolen’ public mandate from Feb 8 elections.

“As everyone knows, on the night of February 8, a brazen robbery of the public mandate took place through money and coercion,” Mr Achakzai said. “Whoever paid the highest price was awarded victory with a check mark. What followed was the auction of the entire state apparatus — consciences, government jobs, and public resources were all put up for sale.”

Mr Achakzai argued that “powerful undemocratic forces have treated the Constitution as nothing more than a piece of paper”.

He claimed that after the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) party was stripped of its electoral symbol, voters still overwhelmingly chose its candidates, only to have their mandate “snatched at gunpoint” by the night of Feb 9.

He asserted the country was engulfed in corruption, with 45 per cent of the population living below the poverty line, and questioned military actions in certain regions.

“Areas in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and other Pashtun and Baloch regions are routinely subjected to bombardment and shelling,” he said. “What was the fault of the unarmed people of Tirah and the innocent children of Bajaur who were riddled with bullets?”

Mr Achakzai appealed to all “democratic” forces to unite and formulate a new consensus charter and social contract.

In a warning to the international community, he said any agreements made by the current government regarding national resources have no legal legitimacy because the government does not represent the people.

A formal resolution from the conference is expected to be released Friday.

Published in Dawn, Aug 1st, 2025