Imran Khan-led party had previously adopted staunch stance refusing to hold talks with PTI opponents
Wednesday, November 08, 2023
The PTI forms a five-member "Political Engagement Committee".
Earlier, a party delegation met Maulana Fazlur Rehman of JUI-F.
Polish parties form new alliance ahead of February 8 polls.
ISLAMABAD: Political parties are gearing up for the general elections and in a rare move, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Wednesday announced the formation of a "political engagement committee" to reach out to rival parties ahead of the upcoming polls.
The five-member committee consists of Senator Ali Zafar, Senator Dr Humayun Mohmand, Ali Muhammad Khan, Ali Asghar Khan and Raoof Hasan, read a party announcement shared on its official X account, formerly known as Twitter.
Notification regarding members of Political Engagement Committee has been issued. Members:
— PTI (@PTIofficial) November 8, 2023
1. Senator Barrister Ali Zafar
2. Senator Dr. Humayun Mohmand
3. Ali Muhammad Khan
4. Ali Asghar Khan
5. Raoof Hasan pic.twitter.com/pcWIt7Q59c
The development comes days after the former ruling party announced it would contest the general election from "all constituencies" at the provincial and national levels.
The Imran Khan-led party has traditionally taken a hard line against political opponents, particularly the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) and others accusing it of widespread corruption and looting Earth.
The PTI's move to decide to reach out to political parties comes at a time when past opponents are becoming future allies, with political parties abandoning their old enmities and seeking to forge new political alliances to strengthen their position ahead of the February 8 general elections. . next year.
A day earlier, the PML-N and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) had announced that they would "contest jointly" in the upcoming polls.
The move came after a MQM-P delegation led by Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Farooq Sattar and Syed Mustafa Kamal met PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif in Lahore at the party's Model Town secretariat.
Last month, the PTI - after securing the go-ahead from its jailed party chief Imran Khan - also reached out to one of its staunch political opponents, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman.
A PTI delegation led by former National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser and comprising Ali Muhammad Khan, Barrister Saif and Junaid Akbar met the Pakistan Democracy Movement (PDM) chief at his residence in Islamabad.
The meeting took place after Fazl agreed to play a leading role in "national reconciliation" in an effort to bring political stability to the country.
Although Qasier said a party delegation met Maulana Fazl to condole the Bajaur incident — a suicide blast at a JUI-F workers' convention that killed more than 40 in July — the hour-long meeting was actually political in nature and involved a discussion. in connection with the political situation in the country, sources said.
Over the past few weeks, Khan's party has shown signs of softening its once tough stance on political opponents.
The party praised the PPP's statement of a "level playing field" and not accepting "minus PTI results".
"It must be remembered that without the PTI, the election results will not be acceptable to anyone," PPP Punjab acting president Rana Farooq said in a statement.
It is pertinent to mention here that last week the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) announced on the direction of the Supreme Court that the general elections will be held on February 8, 2024, ending months of ambiguity around the polling date.
The apex electoral body announced the election date after consulting President Arif Alvi on the directions to the three-judge bench headed by CJP Isa of the apex court, issued while hearing several petitions for early elections within 90 days.
