Afridi meets Mahmood Achakzai, Raja Nasir

ISLAMABAD: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi held fresh talks with opposition leaders on Saturday to finalise plans for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) September 27 march on the federal capital, even as the government renewed warnings that any bid to create unrest in the capital would be met with legal action.

CM Afridi met Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Mahmood Khan Achakzai and Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Allama Raja Nasir Abbas, the second such meeting between the three this week.

A statement issued by the Tehreek-e-Tahaffuz-e-Aain-e-Pakistan (TTAP) on X described it as an “important meeting” involving “detailed political consultations” on strategy for the march, which the PTI has called to press for the release of Imran Khan.

The leaders agreed to pursue the mobilisation as an “organised political struggle” for constitutional supremacy, democratic and provincial rights, and protection of the public mandate, the statement said.

The PTI has been working to turn the march into a joint opposition campaign, having reached an understanding with the TTAP and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) last month to form a “united opposition”.

A central convoy is to set off from KP, with caravans from other parts of the country expected to join before advancing on the federal capital.

The talks came a day after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) ruled that any action violating citizens’ fundamental rights would amount to a breach of the Constitution, a ruling that prompted Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi to warn that anyone flouting it or attempting to create unrest in the capital or any province would face legal action, including contempt of court proceedings. “We will stop them through any means possible,” he said.

Separately, Raja Nasir Abbas also met Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, though he stressed the meeting was not held at his request. “There is no complication in this meeting,” he said, adding that if concerns existed over justice being denied to Imran Khan, “then a solution should be found for that.”

He said he had told the minister that “no one except Imran Khan can postpone the long march on September 27.”

Under its August strategy, the PTI plans to bus workers into KP at least five days before the march, with the main convoy halting at the Punjab-KP border for two to three days before moving towards Islamabad. Parallel protests are planned in Lahore, Karachi, Hyderabad and Quetta.

A committee led by PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja is overseeing funding, with the first day estimated to cost around Rs450 million and each subsequent day roughly Rs14.5 million, to be met through contributions from party lawmakers and leaders.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026