- Govt gives PTI one more chance to call off October 4 march.
- Shehbaz discusses KP security, PTI march with senior advisers.
- Govt waits for PTI response before taking action in KP.
The federal government has, for the time being, decided against taking any immediate step under the emergency or governor’s rule options in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, instead opting to give the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) one more opportunity to reconsider its October 4 march and alter its confrontational political course, highly placed sources told The News on Wednesday.
The decision was taken at a meeting of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif with key advisers and senior members of his team, where the worsening political and security situation in KP and the PTI’s planned march on Islamabad came under detailed discussion.
According to sources, the options of emergency and governor’s rule were discussed at the meeting, but no decision was taken to invoke either measure at this stage.
Instead, the view that prevailed was to wait and see what the PTI does in the coming days, particularly whether the party calls off its October 4 march and adopts a substantially different political approach.
Sources said the government is prepared to give the PTI an opportunity to de-escalate the situation and demonstrate that it is willing to move away from what the federal authorities regard as confrontation-based politics involving road blockades, disruption of Islamabad and an increasingly adversarial narrative against state institutions.
The sources said that if the PTI responds positively and calls off the march, a number of issues concerning the party and its leadership could subsequently be addressed through political and administrative channels.
Among the matters that could be facilitated, according to the sources, are improved access to incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan, consideration of his medical treatment or hospitalisation where medically warranted, and resolution of issues relating to meetings between Khan and his lawyers, members of the family and close relatives.
Similar facilitation could also be considered in relation to Bushra Bibi, including issues concerning her meetings with members of the family and legal team, sources said.
Any release of Imran Khan, however, would remain a matter for the courts and cannot be guaranteed or decided by the government, sources emphasised.
The government’s position, according to the sources, is that the present situation can still be resolved politically if the PTI chooses to de-escalate. The October 4 march has, therefore, emerged as a key test of whether the party is prepared to change its current course.
PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said on Wednesday that the party’s call for the October 4 protest march remained intact, while insisting that the protest would be peaceful. He also urged the federal government to avoid governor’s rule or emergency in KP.
The PTI had originally planned the march for September 27 but postponed it to October 4. The postponement followed intense preparations by the authorities and heightened political tensions surrounding the proposed movement towards Islamabad.
The latest government deliberations come against the backdrop of growing federal concern over the security situation in KP and the relationship between the provincial government and federal security institutions.
Originally published in The News
