PTI to contact ‘like-minded parties’ from next week

ISLAMABAD: A sub-political committee of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Core Committee Saturday discussed the current situation in the country and finalised a strategy to reach out to diverse political parties from next week in view of the upcoming general elections.

A meeting of the sub-political committee was held here where discussion on various issues, including political situation and PTI political strategy, was held in detail. “Contacts will be made with the like-minded parties and even our former coalition partners,” a source in the party said when contacted regarding the strategy.

The political committee especially reviewed various statements of political parties’ leadership, especially from PPP pertaining to the level-playing field and PTI’s participation in the election process.

The participants of the meeting were of the view that the statement of a responsible PPP leader that elections without the participation of PTI would not be acceptable, reflected the correct political thinking.

The sub-committee termed the demand from the country’s different political parties to provide equal opportunities to all political parties for free, fair, impartial and transparent elections as a positive trend.

They said the PTI was the country’s largest and most popular political force in all federating units, therefore, an attempt to exclude any political party, including the PTI, from the election process artificially and unnaturally through any unconstitutional and undemocratic plan would have disastrous consequences for democracy.

The participants stressed the need for immediate issue of PTI’s electoral symbol of bat because it was essential for the credibility and transparency of the elections.

The committee underlined that the PTI would welcome every positive role played in ensuring the conduct of free, fair, transparent and immediate elections.

During the meeting, the schedule regarding contacts with other political parties, to be started from next week, was also finalised.

Meanwhile, a PTI spokesperson strongly condemned the ongoing “state’s coercive tactics and illegal, unconstitutional and immoral crackdown” against the PTI social media workers to silence the sane dissenting voices in order to force them to promote the state-mandated particular narrative.

He demanded the Supreme Court should protect the basic constitutional rights of the citizens and immediately counter the state invasion against the citizens, especially the educated youth.

The state machinery, taking the Constitution and law in total disregard, he alleged, has become the biggest threat to the Constitution in the country. The PTI spokesperson said that Pakistan has been practically put under the grip of martial law plus as there was no regard for the Constitution, law, morality and social rules.