ISLAMABAD: The opposition alliance Tehreek-i-Tahafuz Ayeen-i-Pakistan (TTAP) on Sunday backed Saudi Arabia’s call for dialogue with Afghanistan and urged the government to convene a joint session of parliament to deliberate on internal and external issues.

The coalition of several opposition parties, which rejects the alleged rigging in 2024 elections, also accused the government of creating hurdles in the transfer of power to Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s (PTI) nominated chief minister in KP.

The TTAP meeting, held at the residence of Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar in Islamabad, was attended by alliance head Mahmood Khan Achakzai, Sal­man Akram Raja, Asad Qaiser, Muh­ammad Zubair, Allama Ahmed Rizvi, Sajid Tareen, Zain Shah, Hussain Ahmed Yousafzai, Khalid Yousaf Chaudhry, Asad Abbas and others.

They suggested that the issues between Pakistan and Afghanistan should be addressed through dialogue and urged the government to call the joint session of parliament to discuss the internal and external issues.

Accuses goverment of creating hurdles for PTI-nominated KP CM

In a statement, the TTAP also condemned remarks by federal ministers, calling them a hurdle in the way of the transfer of power in KP and warned that it would further deteriorate and complicate the law and order situation in the province.

The alliance also alleged that the Election Commission of Pakistan’s decision to declare KP Assembly legislators independent candidates was undemocratic and an attempt to promote horse-trading in the provincial assembly.

The participants showed concerns over the law and order situation and terrorism in KP and Balochistan and suggested that the issues should be addressed by taking the provincial gov­­ernments and local people on board.

However, PML-N senator Irfan Siddiqui termed the TTAP’s statement “shameful”, saying the alliance had maligned law-enforcement agencies instead of condemning militants. He stressed that the demand for negotiations was being made for a long time and that was why the province had become a safe haven for militants.

Published in Dawn, October 13th, 2025