• KP CM says dialogue without ‘resistance’ not effective; Karachi his ‘next destination’
• Believes talks can be meaningful if ‘power-wielding individuals’ participate
• Azma claims ‘street movement’ failed to attract public, dubs it ‘social media hype’

LAHORE: After spending three days in the provincial capital galvanising party supporters, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Min­ister Sohail Afridi said the PTI would not engage in talks with the government without first taking to the streets to demonstrate its opposition to the status quo.

His remarks come as party leaders are split into two camps: one led by veterans favouring dialogue, while the other is bent on street agitation as per the directions of the incarcerated founder, Imran Khan.

A day earlier, CM Afridi said the decision to initiate talks rested with the opposition alliance, and that he was in charge of the ‘street movement’.

CM Afridi, along with other provincial ministers and members of the assembly, had arrived in Lahore to launch a new street movement, as per the directives of Imran Khan. He left the provincial capital in the evening. Before Afridi, his predecessor, Ali Amin Gandapur, also came to Lahore earlier this year, ostensibly to launch a protest drive.

Earlier in the day, Mr Afridi told journalists at a meeting that reconciliation was impossible without resistance. “We will be at a loss if we enter into dialogue without resistance. So, the protest movement will continue until the rulers come to the table after recognising the opposition as an equal partner,” he said.

Responding to a question whether the party had perpetually been protesting without any result, CM Afridi said, “This time, we will not make tall claims but do practical work and come up with a positive output.”

Sharing his thoughts about the dialogue offered by the government, the CM claimed there must have been some ‘direction’ from the powers that be to the PM that he offered talks. He said talks could be meaningful only after inclusion of individuals who wielded power and influence.

“We could not develop a working relationship with the establishment because they did not accept my policy and I could not accept their policy,” he said in response to a question about him reaching out to the powerful quarters.

“The establishment now knows that the incumbent rulers were unable to take Pakistan forward,” he said, while accusing the ruling parties of corruption and economic mismanagement.

Mr Afridi said it was not necessary that the PTI pick D-Chowk in Islamabad as its protest site, as it did in November last year, adding that it was also not important to end the protest after a couple of days.

In an X post, the CM also announced his intention of visiting Karachi for the ‘street movement’.

Secretary General Salman Akram Raja, meanwhile, said no political party could go into a blind alley. “We are seeing that the government wants the PTI to neither speak about its election fraud, the release of incarcerated party founder Imran Khan, nor question institutions’ interference in politics and journalism. Then what should we do?”

Mr Raja said reconciliation and dialogue could only begin when the “basic principles” would be agreed — otherwise the party would take to the streets to get these principles accepted.

Following the meeting with journalists, CM Afridi was stopped from entering the Lahore cantonment area, where he had plans to meet the families of incarcerated former Punjab governor Omar Sarfraz Cheema and advocate Hassaan Niazi.

The KP CM said he had been stopped as they had made (cantonement) a no-go area. “I have asked whether Pakistan’s territory ended here and another country’s land started.”

“The Punjab government should not have behaved in such a harsh manner with the chief minister of a province. This has all been happening with me for the past three consecutive days,” he lamented.

“The KP CM is also ready to go without his gunmen and KP police, but is still not being allowed,” Salman Akram Raja said.

Azma ridicules PTI

On the other hand, Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari ridiculed the PTI’s street movement, saying its reality was “exposed in daylight after social media hype overnight.”

In a statement on X, Ms Bokhari quipped that PTI supporters were celebrating by sharing images of Bangladesh since last night, claiming that the so-called street movement failed to attract any public response during the day.

She said there was no one even to respond to the slogans raised by the protesters. Taking a jibe at the demonstrators, she said they had “toured the ‘Europe of Pakistan,’ Lahore, enough under heavy protocol” and should now return.

“Please, let Lahore breathe in peace,” she said, adding that PTI leaders should go back and address the issues of the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa instead. She urged PTI to focus on public welfare in its own province rather than staging what she termed ineffective protests elsewhere.

Amjad Mahmood also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, December 29th, 2025