ON Thursday, a day after the PTI leadership expressed its resolve to go ahead with its planned protest march this weekend, the question of ‘what now?’ continued to hang heavy in the air. Over the course of the day, the government kept signalling it was contemplating governor’s rule or imposing emergency in KP, with a meeting between the prime minister and president announced in this regard. Meanwhile, senior opposition leaders set strict terms for possible talks with the government, which they announced at a press conference after a multiparty meeting. It also appeared that the PTI had prepared itself mentally for extreme consequences, with its interim chairman and a senior leader directly addressing the government on the possibility of special administrative measures being imposed in KP, warning that such an action would not resolve issues and only benefit “non-democratic powers”.
The prime minister sought counsel from his allies in the PPP, with a meeting between him and the president on Thursday evening, concluding with a decision to talk to the opposition on Friday. The prime minister was earlier slated to take the president into confidence regarding the political and security climate, including the possibility of emergency or governor’s rule in KP. It may be recalled that the PPP had also been invited to the opposition multiparty moot, but it did not attend. After the multiparty meeting, the opposition leaders in the National Assembly and Senate sounded defiant, even angry. NA opposition leader Mehmood Khan Achakzai, who had just days ago been invited by the prime minister for talks, ruled out meeting the latter in the Prime Minister’s Office or PM House in an uncharacteristically terse statement to the media, even calling the chief executive “illegitimate”. The Senate opposition leader, Raja Nasir Abbas, spoke in a similar vein, saying, “We are fully prepared to hold dialogue and correct the situation, but this will be without any conditions. If anyone thinks that they will hold a dagger to our necks, then such a thing will never be accepted.”
Only the latter is expected to join the Friday talks. It seems that a confrontation could still be avoided if the jailed PTI founder is granted some time in hospital and visits from his lawyers and family. Both those things had already been ordered by the Supreme Court in August. To think that the government would rather push out an elected government than grant a single prisoner some facilities does not square up rationally. As the side holding the cards, it bears greater responsibility. Likewise, the PTI should also weigh its options judiciously, instead of reaching directly for another direct confrontation. It can only be hoped that sense prevails between now and Sunday. The country cannot afford more upheaval.
Published in Dawn, October 2nd, 2026
