CM Sohail Afridi leads PTI long march from Lakki Marwat

LAKKI MARWAT –A long march led by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi has started from Gandi Chowk in Lakki Marwat.

PTI leader Junaid Akbar and other party leaders are also accompanying the chief minister during the march.

Sohail Afridi said the participants would reach Khairabad on October 8, after which the next course of action would be announced.

In a video statement, PTI leader Asad Qaiser said access to the party’s founder was the main reason for the deadlock in talks between the government and opposition.

He said the government had stated that access to the PTI founder would not be included in the agreement.

“If access is not allowed, how can consultation take place?” Qaiser asked.

He said the PML-N consulted Nawaz Sharif or Shehbaz Sharif on every matter, while the Pakistan Peoples Party consulted Bilawal Bhutto Zardari or Asif Ali Zardari.

Qaiser called for effective consultation between the federal and provincial governments to address terrorism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He demanded that a meeting between the federal and provincial governments be held within 72 hours and that a comprehensive and agreed strategy for maintaining law and order be formulated.

He said leaders of all political parties and relevant stakeholders should be included in the process.

Meanwhile, PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja said the government was responsible for the failure of negotiations with the opposition because of its insistence on its position.

He said the opposition delegation had maintained its principled stance that counterterrorism operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa should be conducted on the basis of an agreement between the federal and provincial governments.

The agreement, he said, should also be finalised in consultation with political parties represented in the KP Assembly.

Raja alleged that the government delegation rejected the opposition’s position and insisted that the provincial government accept all measures initiated unilaterally.

He said the opposition had made it clear that it was committed to a zero-tolerance policy against terrorism and wanted to eliminate militancy from its roots.

According to Raja, the policy and measures against terrorism should have the support of the local population and be based on ground intelligence.

He also called for consideration of decisions reached through jirgas held in the KP Assembly.

Raja said these proposals were not acceptable to the federal government, resulting in a deadlock in the negotiations.