Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s parliamentary party has decided to support the proposed 28th Constitutional Amendment only if party founder Imran Khan is released, according to sources who spoke to ARY News.
The decision was taken at a parliamentary party meeting in Islamabad, where most participants backed linking the party’s support for the amendment to Mr Khan’s release, the sources said. The meeting also agreed to set up a six-member steering committee to deal with access to Mr Khan and his medical treatment.
Opposition leaders Mahmood Khan Achakzai and Allama Raja Nasir Abbas will head the committee, the sources said, and it will negotiate with the government and other relevant quarters on the issues. The committee will include two members of the National Assembly and two senators, along with one representative each from Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The meeting itself was tense and ran for about seven hours at Parliament House, with lawmakers discussing internal differences, talks with the government and preparations for a long march. Several members left the committee room during heated exchanges, the sources said.
Faisal Amin Khan, the brother of former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister Ali Amin Gandapur, walked out in anger and shut the door forcefully behind him, according to the sources. PTI member Khawaja Sheraz also left, saying he would return after taking a phone call, while Ali Muhammad Khan gave the same reason and Shehryar Afridi said he was leaving to offer prayers.
Speaking after the meeting, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said the parliamentary party had unanimously condemned the imposition of governor’s rule and an emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He said the party had no information about the whereabouts of its chief minister or several provincial lawmakers, and that Mr Khan’s sisters had been detained for a month, with their detention later extended.
Reporting of the meeting differed between outlets. While ARY’s sources described a majority decision to back the amendment conditionally, Dawn reported that most lawmakers opposed further negotiations and that only around 15 favoured supporting it, seeing it as a route to securing Mr Khan’s release.
