Govt, PTI trade barbs over Oct 4 long march as emergency risk looms

• Sanaullah says PM briefed on current political situation.
• Dogar asks whether peaceful protest itself is criminal.
• PTI cites jailed, missing lawmakers amid ongoing crackdown.
  

The government and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) traded barbs over the party’s planned October 4 long march, with Prime Minister’s Adviser on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah warning that governor’s rule or an emergency could be imposed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Speaking on Geo News programme "Capital Talk", Sanaullah said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had been briefed on the current situation, adding that the Constitution empowered the federal government to impose governor’s rule or an emergency.

He said the provincial government’s role was not to “attack” the federal government, while stressing that talks between the two sides had continued off the record.

According to Sanaullah, the purpose of the informal discussions was to convince the KP government to distance itself from what he described as an “illegal and unconstitutional campaign”.

He warned that if the provincial government remained adamant, the federal government could move to impose governor’s rule or emergency in the province.

PTI leader Malik Aamir Dogar, also appearing on "Capital Talk", questioned whether raising one’s voice for rights or holding a peaceful protest and march constituted a crime.

He rejected what he described as a narrative being built against PTI that the party wanted to create disorder and was bringing “armed groups” to Islamabad.

The PTI leader said the party should certainly face action if it chose an illegal or unconstitutional course, but maintained that its planned protest did not fall into that category.

Dogar also claimed that seven PTI members of the National Assembly and more than 10 members of provincial assemblies were either in jail or missing. He further claimed that three provincial ministers were either imprisoned or missing.

He said the three sisters of PTI founder Imran Khan were also on hunger strike in jail.

Dogar added that PTI did not want to take any step that could result in the dissolution or removal of its provincial government.

The PTI had earlier postponed its planned long march towards Islamabad from September 27 to October 4. The former ruling party has said the protest is aimed at seeking the release of its jailed founder, Imran Khan, and what it describes as the restoration of constitutional supremacy.

Sanaullah, meanwhile, said KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi should also have instructed PTI workers to stop wherever police blocked their route.

He said such an instruction from Afridi could have resolved the matter, eliminating the need for containers and PTI’s claims about a “death trap”.