LAHORE: Five senior PTI leaders, incarcerated in Kot Lakhpat jail, have urged opposition leaders to “engage constructively” with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on a “Charter of Pakistan” — a move they deem will address the root cause of instability in the country.
They made the appeal in a joint letter to Leader of the Opposition in National Assembly Mehmood Khan Achakzai, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Allama Raja Nasir Abbas and PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan.
The letter by Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Dr Yasmin Rashid, Omar Sarfraz Cheema, Ejaz Chaudhry and Mian Mahmood ur Rasheed was shared by their counsel Rana Mudassar Umer and dated June 17. It said that Pakistan currently “stands at a critical crossroads” and referred to a recent invitation by the government to the opposition to sign a “Charter of Economy”.
The PTI leaders noted that PM Shehbaz has once again proposed a “Charter of Economy” as a means of addressing the country’s persistent economic challenges. “While economic reform and policy continuity are undoubtedly essential, it is important to ask a more fundamental question: Can economic stability be achieved in the absence of political stability and constitutional certainty? History, experience and common sense suggest otherwise.”
Say political stability, constitutional supremacy prerequisites for economic progress
“No economy flourishes where constitutional supremacy is contested, where political uncertainty prevails and where public confidence in institutions is weakened.”
The jailed leaders emphasised that investment, growth and prosperity were “ultimately products of trust in the rule of law, respect for mandate and predictable governance”.
“Attempting to resolve economic difficulties without addressing these foundational issues is like repainting a building whose foundations remain unstable,” they added.
“For this reason, we respectfully urge the opposition leadership to engage constructively with the prime minister and challenge him to elevate the conversation beyond a ‘Charter of Economy’ towards a broader and more meaningful ‘Charter of Pakistan’,” the PTI leaders said.
Moreover, they maintained that such a charter should seek consensus among all political forces, state institutions and centres of power on the principle of unconditional supremacy of the Constitution, respect for the electoral mandate and the will of the people and an end to political engineering in all its forms, strict adherence by all institutions to their constitutional roles and boundaries, across-the-board accountability without discrimination, protection of core national policies, including implementation of the National Action Plan, and long-term economic frameworks, regardless of changes in government.
Published in Dawn, June 19th, 2026