Imran Khan gives nod for "grand opposition alliance": Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader

Islamabad [Pakistan], August 2 : Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) senior leader Asad Qaiser said on Thursday that party founder Imran Khan has given the nod to form a "grand opposition alliance" by expanding the existing platform Tehreek Tahafuz-e-Ayin-e-Pakistan (TTAP), Pakistan-based Geo News reported.
Asad Qaiser's statement comes ahead of the PTI power show set to be held next week. Speaking to reporters alongside PTI Secretary-General Omar Ayub Khan and others outside Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail on Thursday, Qaiser said, "PTI decides to expand the opposition alliance in meeting with Imran Khan."
Qaiser said that the PTI will gather all opposition parties to run an anti-government movement. He stated that PTI's forthcoming power show in Swabi is aimed at raising a "strong voice" for the release of former Pakistan PM Imran Khan and other detained leaders.
He said, "This country will only be governed in accordance with the law and the Constitution."
Qaiser criticised the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government over increasing electricity bills, stressing that the skyrocketing power bills were "unacceptable" for the inflation-hit masses.
Asad Qaiser also announced that PTI supports Jamaat-e-Islami's (JI) sit-in ongoing in Rawalpindi's Murree Road since July 26 against the rise in power bills, according to Geo News report.
While addressing the same press conference, Omar Ayub Khan urged the people to participate in the public gathering in Swabi on August 5 in large numbers to express solidarity with Imran Khan and the "most popular party".
Asked about the criticism being faced by Imran Khan for demanding objections, Khan said that they did not have any discussion over the dialogue. However, he further said that Imran Khan made it clear that the military belongs to the nation and vice versa.
Omar Ayub Khan said that PML-N and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) were attempting to create a wedge between the military and the nation, according to Geo News report.
Speaking about the cases against the PTI founder, he said that they were fighting a legal battle for the release of Imran Khan. He blamed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for preventing the release of Imran Khan's wife, Bushra Bibi, despite having no connections with the Toshakhana case.
Omar Ayub Khan called on Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa and Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Aamer Farooq to recuse themselves from hearing Imran Khan's cases.
Imran Khan (71), who served as Pakistan's Prime Minister from 2018 to 2022, has been incarcerated in Adiala Jail since August 2023 on multiple charges, including the Toshakhana case, the cypher case and the unlawful marriage case. His wife has also remained in prison for months.
A court has suspended his sentence in the Toshakhana case and other courts overturned his convictions in the cypher and iddat cases respectively. However, the hopes for Imran Khan and his wife's release were dashed when NAB arrested them on fresh charges related to the sale of state gifts.
The chances of Imran Khan's release from prison were further dimmed after his arrest in new cases related to the May 9, 2023 riots case after his acquittal in the iddat case, Geo News reported.
Speaking about Imran Khan's release and detention, Omar Ayub Khan said that the "justice system should serve justice to the PTI founder." He said that PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif ended his exile after "getting an NRO" and returned to Pakistan after Justice Isa became the CJP. He said that Nawaz Sharif did not return when Umar Ata Bandial served as Chief Justice of Pakistan.
Asked about the rising electricity bills, he blamed PML-N and the PPP government for approving expensive power plants and signing contracts with the independent power producers (IPPs) which resulted in higher power bills.