Opposition Warns of Nationwide Protests Over Denied Access to Imran Khan
Opposition parties on Friday warned the government of nationwide protests after authorities once again denied jailed former prime minister Imran Khan permission to meet his sisters and senior Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders. Speaking outside Parliament House after a joint opposition huddle, PkMAP chief Mehmood Khan Achakzai accused the government of attempting to silence political dissent across the country. He said that political workers from Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab had been restrained by their leadership from taking to the streets in protest, warning that growing frustration could create fresh political instability if the government continued to bar access to Khan inside Adiala Jail.
Achakzai questioned the basis on which the former prime minister was being kept incommunicado, noting that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister had even staged a sit-in outside the prison to seek a meeting but was ignored by authorities. He claimed that the government’s behaviour reflected a deliberate effort to suppress all political activity linked to the incarcerated PTI founder.
Former National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser, speaking alongside other opposition leaders, said democracy had been pushed “to the back seat” following the recent by-elections. He alleged that the Haripur by-poll, where the wife of former opposition leader Omar Ayub Khan was contesting, had been manipulated through changes made after the issuance of Form-47. According to Qaiser, the computer-generated results “did not match” the ones issued earlier at the polling stations, raising fresh questions about electoral transparency.
Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said the opposition wished to participate fully in the parliamentary process but claimed that widespread rigging had made genuine political engagement impossible. He added that Imran Khan himself was unlikely to allow PTI lawmakers to remain part of parliament under such circumstances, describing the environment as “undemocratic and coercive.”
The opposition’s renewed demand for immediate access to the jailed PTI founder comes amid escalating political tension, with calls intensifying for the restoration of fundamental democratic rights and an end to what leaders described as an “authoritarian approach” by the government.
