Babar Awan urges PTI to leave parliament as Gohar calls for fresh talks

• Babar Awan called for immediate resignations from parliament, saying the government could not be trusted.
• PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan urged both sides to resume negotiations without preconditions.
• KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi challenged the governor’s actions and said the provincial government remained fully functional.

PTI leader Babar Awan has urged the party to resign from parliament, while Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan has called for stalled negotiations with the government to resume without preconditions.

Speaking outside the Islamabad High Court, Awan said he had opposed negotiations from the beginning because he did not trust the government. He argued that PTI should no longer remain in the existing political system and called for immediate resignations.

Awan said the party’s long march had three central objectives: establishing the rule of the people, ensuring constitutional supremacy and securing fresh elections.

He also demanded implementation of the Supreme Court’s decision concerning PTI founder Imran Khan and called for Khan’s personal doctor to be included in the medical board examining him.

Questioning the identity of a doctor who had arrived from England, Awan asked whether the doctor’s involvement complied with the rules governing prisoners.

Gohar, meanwhile, told reporters in Abbottabad on Wednesday that political disputes required serious and meaningful dialogue. He said PTI had accepted the government’s earlier invitation to negotiations without attaching conditions.

He urged the two sides to restart the talks that had been derailed, stressing that neither side should impose preconditions.

Describing the political and security situation in the country and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as serious, Gohar called for the prime minister to play a greater role in resolving the impasse. He also criticised the government’s handling of PTI.

The party chairman said the long march would continue peacefully and that participants would reach Islamabad soon.

Gohar accused the provincial governor of acting unconstitutionally by calling a provincial assembly session. He alleged that an undeclared governor’s rule had been imposed in KP and that PTI ministers and lawmakers were being abducted.

Despite Awan’s opposition to negotiations, several opposition members have kept the possibility of dialogue open as the march continues.

Separately, KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi objected to the governor convening a meeting and issuing directives, describing the actions as an attack on the Constitution and democracy.

Addressing a provincial cabinet meeting, Afridi maintained that the elected government remained fully functional. He said the administration would obtain legal advice on the governor’s actions and consider legislation through the provincial assembly if the constitutional position remained unclear.