ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Interim Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan has said the party’s call for a protest march on October 4 remains intact, following its postponement on September 27.
Speaking to the media at Dhamial Naka near Adiala Jail on Tuesday—the designated visitation day for family members and the legal team of incarcerated PTI founding chairman Imran Khan—he said the PTI’s long march was postponed to October 4 following a unanimous decision by the party’s political committee.
He said his party had repeatedly assured the authorities that it would neither storm nor attack any location. “Our demand is simply to allow meetings and medical treatment. This is not a big demand,” he said.
The interim chairman added that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had written a letter to the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, Mahmood Khan Achakzai, proposing that a meeting should be held.
Responding to questions about rumours of imposing governor’s rule or an emergency, he questioned the grounds on which governor’s rule and an emergency be imposed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). “What basis will you have for imposing governor’s rule? You have already taken away all the powers,” he said.
He warned that the PTI would fully resist if governor’s rule was imposed, or a state of emergency was declared in the province. On the security situation, he said terrorism alone could not be used as a justification for imposing governor’s rule, maintaining instead that action against terrorism should be taken under the National Action Plan (NAP).
The interim chairman said the mandate of KP belonged to PTI founding chairman Imran Khan, and that Sohail Afridi is the Chief Minister with Khan’s consent. “As long as the PTI founding chairman supports him, Sohail Afridi will stay as the CM. He said Imran Khan has not expressed any lack of confidence in Sohail Afridi so far.
Regarding reports attributed to Noreen Niazi, the sister of Imran Khan, which were aired on electronic media, he said that both he and the family had denied the claims.
Gohar said that provincial ministers and parliamentarians were being detained in KP. He described it as a “major challenge” to the writ of the provincial government and provincial autonomy.
He said PTI leaders had met PPP leaders as part of the joint opposition and invited them to attend an All Parties Conference (APC). He said “the PPP leadership told us that they would inform the opposition about their intention to attend the APC after consultations within the party.”
He said the APC would discuss the country’s overall political situation, the security situation in KP, and issues concerning the provinces.
Barrister Gohar described the arrests and detention of members of parliament as a serious matter and said all political parties should agree on a future course of action.
He also said the government should engage in political dialogue rather than resort to undemocratic measures. Undemocratic behaviour would create space for non-democratic forces to become stronger, he said.
Former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s cousin, Qasim Zaman, reached Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail, where Khan’s sisters Aleema Khan, Uzma Khan and Noreen Niazi are in jail, but, like the previous week, neither Khan’s cousin nor members of the legal team were allowed a meeting with Khan.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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