PTI rules out Achakzai's removal, says no talks on making Fazl opposition leader

• Gohar says party follows Imran’s decisions.
• PTI seeks production orders for arrested lawmakers.
• Achakzai retains authority given by PTI founder.
  

ISLAMABAD: PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan on Monday ruled out any “minus” for Mahmood Khan Achakzai, saying there had also been no discussion about replacing him with JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman as opposition leader in the National Assembly.

Speaking to Geo News at Parliament House, Gohar said PTI founder Imran Khan had complete confidence in Achakzai and that the party had no authority to decide whether to accept the opposition leader or not.

“We accept the PTI founder’s decision and will move forward accordingly,” he said.

Gohar said everyone in the party was free to express their opinion, but once the party made a decision, it was accepted by all.

He said the decision regarding the opposition leader was at Imran’s discretion, adding that the PTI founder had named Achakzai and Allama Raja Nasir Abbas as leaders and directed the party to move forward under their guidance.

“The PTI founder gave me instructions, and those are what we accept and follow,” Gohar said, adding that neither opposition leader had been disrespected.

He said everything was proceeding at the PTI founder’s discretion, adding: “If there had to be a ‘minus’, it would have happened by now.”

Gohar also maintained that Imran could not be “minus”, claiming that 90% of the nation currently stood with him.

Separately, the PTI chairman said he had spoken to National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq about production orders for 10 arrested parliamentarians.

He said lawmakers Adil Bazai and Chaudhry Imtiaz had been arrested and that the speaker had been informed about the arrests.

Gohar also confirmed that Mishal Yousafzai had been issued a show-cause notice, describing it as an internal party matter.

'Meeting demand led to governor’s rule'

In a separate conversation with the media on Adiala Road in Rawalpindi, Gohar claimed that the demand for a meeting with Imran was what led to the imposition of governor’s rule.

“We oppose terrorism in all its forms,” he said, adding that PTI had joined talks with the government unconditionally.

“We went to get our prayers granted, but instead ended up having to fast,” Gohar remarked, using an Urdu proverb to describe the outcome of the talks.

He said PTI had a government in only one province and that too had been “snatched away”.

Gohar said political interests should not be protected under the guise of terrorism, adding that PTI still wanted the National Action Plan to be implemented.

“The government has done what it wanted to do. It should now reverse it,” he said.

Rejecting claims that PTI’s negotiating committee was receiving instructions from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gohar said he was unaware of any mention of consulting Murad Saeed during the negotiations.

He reiterated that there had been no discussion about making Fazlur Rehman the opposition leader.

“Mahmood Achakzai has been given authority by the PTI founder. There can be no discussion on that,” Gohar said.

Imran's proposed video statement

Gohar also recalled meeting Imran three times on November 25, 2024 — in the morning, afternoon and at night.

He said he spoke to former KP CM Ali Amin Gandapur over the phone during one of the meetings, during which Gandapur asked Imran to record a video statement.

According to Gohar, he later received a call from Adiala asking him to return because Imran wanted to record the video. He said he reached Adiala at midnight.

Gohar said Imran wanted to offer condolences over the martyrdom of Rangers personnel in the video and had not refused to record the statement.

However, according to Gohar, Imran wanted the recording to be made on Gohar’s mobile phone to prevent any tampering. Gohar said his phone was with jail authorities, while the device available to record the statement belonged to them.

He added that Imran asked Gandapur to remain where he was and told Gohar to return the following day to record the video.

Gohar also claimed that a statement attributed to now-dysfunctional KP CM Sohail Afridi regarding Pakistan’s flag had been generated using artificial intelligence.