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？ Rana Sanaullah says PTI wants to destabilise country through agitation
？ CM Gandapur terms threat to arrest Imran’s sons ‘petty’
PESHAWAR: A day after the PTI leadership extended their ‘final’ protest for 90 days, the government and the opposition leaders continued to spar on the purported protest plan, with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur calling the restrictions ‘regrettable’ and Prime Minister’s Political Affairs Adviser Rana Sanaullah dubbing the party a ‘destabilising’ factor for its repeated protests.
The PTI had planned a nationwide protest, which was expected to reach its peak on Aug 5, but the KP chief minister extended the final push for three months — a move that garnered criticism from his colleagues who complained they were blindsided by the CM.
On Monday, the KP CM, however, took the government to task for its crackdown on party workers, restrictions on its right to protest, as well as an alleged plan to arrest the sons of Imran Khan if they arrived in Pakistan to join the protest movement.
He said restrictions on the right to protest were regrettable and the arrests of the party workers and leadership were also unacceptable. He also called out the government for its statement regarding the arrest of Imran Khan’s sons upon their arrival in Pakistan to take part in the protest for the release of their father, saying such threats were petty.
“Imran Khan’s sons will come to Pakistan. Those who are saying that they will be arrested are showing their meanness,” CM Gandapur said, adding that Imran Khan was in prison for the last two years, so it was the right of his sons to meet him. “No FIR has been registered against the sons of Imran Khan, nor have they committed any crime, then how could they be arrested,” he asked. The CM claimed that the government for the sake of political revenge was damaging Pakistan’s reputation globally by announcing its purported plan to arrest the ex-PM’s sons.
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In a comment on the crackdown on the party supporters, CM Gandapur referred to the November 26 violence in which several PTI workers were reportedly killed. “I believe that if someone is coming to shoot me, I will also respond in the same manner. This is not my party’s policy rather it’s my personal statement and it is allowed by our religion and constitution,” he warned.
Amid conflicting reports regarding the fate of the Aug 5 protest and dissent from within the party, the PTI leader insisted that there should be no grouping in the party as he always believed in unity and was never involved in the grouping or leg-pulling inside the party.
Regarding the rumours of a no-confidence motion in the KP Assembly against him, he challenged all political parties and the state institutions that he would quit politics forever if his government was toppled. He also said that all decisions related to the KP Senate elections would be made by Imran Khan, adding that the party leadership should be allowed to meet the incarcerated party founder.
‘Destabilising the country’
Meanwhile, Prime Minister’s Adviser on Political Affairs Rana Sana-ullah said that the former ruling party only wanted to “destabilise the country with protests”, Dawn.com reported.
In reference to the Sunday presser, Mr Sanaullah said that CM Gandapur’s words made it clear that the PTI wanted to “destabilise the country, right after Marka-i-Haq“ (the recent Pakistan-India escalation) and the government’s “success in economic revival, which lent Pakistan an opportunity for stability”.
“Besides this, it is unknown what other agenda they have,” he added.
Referring to the planned 90-day and August 5 protests, he said, “If they remain peaceful, then it’s fine (…) it is their democratic right. But if they take the law into their own hands and attempt to destabilise the country (…) then the law will take its due course.”
He added that this destabilisation “has been their (PTI’s) agenda from the beginning”, referring to the party demonstrating outside the International Monetary Fund (IMF) offices against their granting of an emergency loan to Pakistan.
He dismissed the notion that the government, despite being relatively stable now, would consider being more generous in negotiations for Imran’s release, saying that “it had nothing to do with generosity and that the case was proceeding according to the rules of the court.”
He pointed out how it was the PTI’s own stance in previous negotiations that Imran’s release would not be discussed, as the PTI founder himself expressed the desire to be acquitted on his own merit.
According to Mr Sanaullah, the government was ready to hold talks with the PTI on other issues, but he said that according to the party’s recent calls for negotiations, it “does not want dialogue with the government, but with the establishment”.
“They are not willing to sit down with either political parties or politicians to solve issues,” he said. “They are still stuck on their own agenda, seeking the establishment’s help to put them back into power. They are not ready for political dialogue.”
Asked what counter-demands the government might hold in negotiations, he said, “We have only one wish, one effort, one fight: the revival of Pakistan’s economy and its success, such that every citizen’s wellbeing is ensured and it is included on the map of the world as a welfare state.”
“It is in everybody’s mutual interest, the opposition and government, and everybody should agree on a ‘charter of economy’ on certain basic matters,” he said. “We are ready for any understanding or agreement in this regard.”
Mohammad Ashfaq also contributed to this report
Published in Dawn, July 15th, 2025