Afridi adamant on PTI demands as Naqvi accuses K-P govt of backtracking on commitments during talks | The Express Tribune

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Sunday shared the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) demand draft and stood firm on the party’s demands, while Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi accused the provincial government of backtracking on commitments during the final phase of negotiations.

The exchanges came after marathon talks between the government and opposition on Saturday failed to break the deadlock over the PTI’s long march, with both sides maintaining their positions and pressing competing demands. The talks, chaired by National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, followed an initial round on Friday in which the two sides exchanged their positions but failed to reach an agreement.

Earlier today, CM Afridi shared a seven-point draft of demands that he said he had sent to the government-opposition negotiating committee.

In a post on X, Afridi said he was placing before the public the draft he had sent to the negotiating committee, adding that the entire nation should know that none of the demands was unconstitutional or illegal.

He said the people were being treated as second-class citizens and alleged that the state was treating them like a stepmother.

“These were our demands, are our demands and will remain our demands,” he said.

Under the first point, the draft proposed regular meetings between the prime minister and the leaders of the opposition in both houses of parliament to discuss all important political, national, constitutional, legal and democratic issues facing the country, particularly pending matters.

It said the parties would be bound to ensure effective and workable progress towards resolving these issues through mutual consultation and negotiations within two months.

The second point called for the prime minister to form a joint political negotiating committee comprising representatives of the government coalition, the Pakistan Peoples Party and opposition parties.

The committee would hold continuous negotiations with the opposition on national and political matters, mutual differences and other important issues and seek workable solutions through consensus, the draft said.

It also called for complete freedom for democracy, politics, the judiciary and journalism.

The committee would ensure significant progress on negotiations and solutions within one month of its formation and present its recommendations to the relevant leadership, according to the draft.

The third point called for Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi to be provided all legal, human and medical rights available to them under the jail manual, the Constitution and prevailing laws without discrimination.

Read: No breakthrough after marathon PTI-govt talks

Where legally applicable, necessary medical facilities and treatment would be provided while taking into consideration the medical opinions, instructions and advice of their personal or nominated doctors, it said.

The fourth point called for Imran and Bushra to be allowed to meet their family members, nominated lawyers and authorised or nominated associates in accordance with the jail manual and relevant laws.

The meetings would be held under the law and prison rules and regulations, while neither side would use the meeting facility for political or other purposes prohibited by law, the draft said.

The fifth point called for applications against sentences and other legal applications filed by Imran, Bushra, women, elderly and sick prisoners and all other detained persons to be considered within 10 days in accordance with the Constitution and law, where legally possible.

It said all cases would be decided by the relevant courts and legal forums in accordance with the Constitution, law, transparent judicial procedures and principles of justice, without unjustified delay.

Women serving political sentences, including elderly PTI leader Yasmin Rashid and Bushra, would be released at the earliest on humanitarian grounds, the draft said.

On the security situation in K-P, the sixth point called for effective, continuous and meaningful consultation between the federal and provincial governments to end terrorism, protect the lives and property of people and establish lasting and sustainable peace.

Existing policies and measures would be regularly reviewed and amended where necessary, it said.

Read more: CM Afridi lays out K-P long march schedule amid govt-PTI deadlock in talks

Authorised representatives of the federal and provincial governments would hold a formal meeting within 72 hours and, through mutual consultation, formulate a clear, comprehensive and workable strategy for maintaining law and order.

Implementation of the strategy within the framework of the Constitution and law would be the joint responsibility of the federal and provincial governments, according to the draft.

The seventh point said PTI would announce the cancellation of the long march after the federal government provided written assurances on the effective implementation of the assurances and agreed measures outlined in the draft.

However, if the federal government violated the agreed assurances, the negotiating process or constitutional and legal requirements, or unnecessarily stalled the talks, PTI would reserve its right to peaceful, democratic and legal protest in accordance with the Constitution and law.

Responding to CM Afridi, Naqvi said the K-P government had backed out of a series of security-related commitments during the final phase of negotiations between the government and opposition over the PTI’s planned long march.

In a post on X, Naqvi said the K-P government had agreed to sign a written agreement and submit an implementation plan within 72 hours covering a range of measures related to counterterrorism and security in the province.

He said the commitments included reconsidering the Police Act 2026 in light of the security situation and the need to protect security matters from political interference.

The provincial government had also agreed to prevent terrorists from operating freely or finding safe havens in the province and to issue an “unequivocal condemnation” of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also referred to as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Afghanistan (TTA), and all other terrorist groups, Naqvi said.

It had further agreed to support the national policy on Afghan refugees, including their repatriation and the dismantling of Afghan camps in K-P, as well as to have no contact with the interim Afghan government, he said.

The commitments also included substantial funding for counterterrorism operations and the police, full provincial ownership of counterterrorism measures and stronger cooperation with the armed forces, Naqvi said.

The K-P government had also agreed to decisions on counterterrorism in former FATA and the merged districts, as well as implementation of the National Action Plan, according to the minister.

“Last night, during the final phase of negotiations, the K-P Government backed out of these commitments,” Naqvi said.

“Security must not be politicised while the province is at War,” he added.

Salman Akram Raja says talks broke down over K-P counter-terrorism

PTI leader Salman Akram Raja weighed in on X, saying disagreement over the federal government’s proposed approach to counter-terrorism operations in K-P was the main reason talks between the government and the PTI-TTAP team broke down in the early hours of the morning.

“Leaving all other issues and much noise aside, the primary reason for the failure of the talks around 3am this morning between the government team and the PTI-TTAP team was the following,” Raja said in a post on X.

He said the PTI-TTAP team had “stood firm on its principled position” that anti-terrorism actions in K-P should be based on an agreement between the federal and provincial governments.

Such measures, Raja said, should also be “framed on the basis of consultation with, and the buy-in of, the different political parties represented in the KPK assembly”.

He said this position had not been acceptable to the government team, which had insisted that “all actions unilaterally initiated by it would have to be owned by the provincial government”.

Raja said the PTI-TTAP team had been clear that “we have zero tolerance for terrorism and are committed to rooting it out”.

He added that the team also had a clear position against “so-called collateral damage” in the form of innocent lives being lost and the internal displacement of the local population.

“Policies and actions aimed at fighting terror must have the support of the local population and be based on ground intelligence,” Raja said.

He also said the recommendations of a jirga held in the K-P Assembly should be taken into account. The jirga, he said, comprised “all the political and tribal notables of the province, including the merged districts”.

“The wisdom provided by the jirga held in the KPK assembly of all the political and tribal notables of the province, including the merged districts, must be heeded,” Raja said.

He said this position had not been acceptable to the federal government, which had led to the breakdown in negotiations.

Three red lines

PTI Sindh leader Haleem Adil Sheikh, who had been part of the six-member opposition negotiating committee, said the two-day negotiation sessions between the government and opposition teams had continued until around 2:30am, but ended in a deadlock over three “fundamental red lines”.

In a post on X, Sheikh said the committee had the backing of the core and political committees and had remained in consultation throughout the negotiations.

“We continued consulting during the negotiations, sought guidance from Mahmood Khan Achakzai and remained in continuous contact with Chief Minister Sohail Afridi,” Sheikh said.

He said the two sides had discussed several issues, reached agreement on some points and continued talks on others, but had ultimately reached an impasse over three key matters.

The first, he said, was a meeting with PTI founder Imran Khan.

“We made it clear that only Imran Khan has the authority to call off the long march; therefore a meeting with him was necessary,” Sheikh said.

When the government did not agree to the meeting, he said the opposition had proposed as an alternative that Raja Nasir Abbas be allowed to meet Imran Khan. “But the government did not agree to that either,” he said.

The second “red line”, according to Sheikh, concerned Imran Khan’s health and medical treatment.

“Our minimum demand was that his personal doctors be included in his treatment so that doubts regarding his health could be dispelled,” he said. “The government did not agree to this either, which further increased our concerns.”

The third point was the policy on security and terrorism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

“Our demand was that no decision should be taken unilaterally,” Sheikh said, adding that the federal and provincial governments should take all relevant stakeholders, including parliamentary political parties, into confidence before formulating a joint and agreed course of action.

He said the two governments should “move forward under the National Action Plan against terrorism”.

Instead of broad consultation, however, the government had sought to make decisions within 72 hours, Sheikh alleged.

“On these three points, neither were we prepared to back down from our position nor did the government accept our demands,” he said. “Consequently, the negotiations reached a deadlock.”

Sheikh said Chief Minister Sohail Afridi would begin the long march at 4pm on Sunday, while protests planned in Sindh would also take place according to the previously announced programme.

He called on PTI organisations in all districts, including Karachi and Hyderabad, to ensure implementation of their programmes.

“Our peaceful movement will continue until the release of Imran Khan and other leaders, restoration of the Constitution, independence of the judiciary and an end to skyrocketing inflation,” Sheikh said.

“In Sindh too, every chowk will be D-Chowk,” he added.

Afridi prepares for long march

The demands came as negotiations between the government and opposition failed to resolve the dispute over the October 4 march.

The two sides had held marathon talks at the National Assembly speaker’s office, with the government seeking to persuade PTI to call off the protest and the opposition seeking assurances on its demands before taking such a decision.

The talks had made progress on several issues, but a disagreement over a meeting with Imran emerged during the final stages of the negotiations. Opposition leader Mahmood Khan Achakzai had maintained that the authority to call off the march rested with Imran and Afridi.

The PTI had subsequently maintained its plan to proceed with the march, with Afridi announcing a five-day programme under which the procession was expected to reach Peshawar by October 8.