Peshawar (The COW News Digital)Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa President Junaid Akbar has said the party will try to ensure that its planned long march does not extend beyond October 4, while emphasizing that the final decision on its timing and strategy rests with the party leadership.
Speaking during a television programme, Junaid Akbar said PTI had consulted lawmakers, party leaders and members of the public before deciding on the next phase of its protest movement. He said the majority view during consultations was in favour of taking the march forward.
According to Akbar, the party’s leadership has the authority to determine when and how the long march will proceed. He maintained that PTI’s stated objective was not to occupy Islamabad but to seek what it describes as constitutional supremacy and the rule of law.
Akbar also said the party had consulted opposition leaders, including Mahmood Khan Achakzai and Maulana Fazlur Rehman, regarding the political situation and the proposed movement. He said Achakzai had initially expressed reservations but was later brought on board.
Discussing the government’s response, the PTI leader questioned the scale of security preparations ahead of the proposed march. He said police personnel had been deployed and other security arrangements had been made, arguing that such preparations showed the government was aware of PTI’s mobilisation plans.
Akbar said the party had considered whether a prolonged march would place unnecessary pressure on its workers. He argued that PTI would not want its supporters to remain on the roads for several days if its political message could be conveyed without a prolonged mobilisation.
The PTI leader further said the party’s campaign was linked to demands for constitutional and legal governance. He claimed that PTI members wanted state institutions to operate within their constitutional jurisdictions and for the judiciary to function independently.
On cases involving PTI founder Imran Khan, Akbar expressed the view that the cases would not withstand scrutiny if they were heard fairly in court. He alleged that several cases involving PTI leaders were not being taken up for hearings and said the party wanted judicial processes to operate according to law.
Akbar maintained that if courts become independent and constitutional principles are upheld, PTI’s legal concerns would be addressed through the judicial process rather than political pressure.
The PTI leadership had earlier announced that its long march toward Islamabad would depart from Peshawar on October 4 following consultations within the party’s political committee. The revised schedule followed the postponement of the previously announced September 27 march.
The timing, route and further strategy of the protest remain subject to decisions by PTI leadership, while government authorities have continued preparations for maintaining security along key routes.
