Islamabad, June 6, 2025: Senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) leader and Parliamentary Party head in the Senate, Senator Irfan Siddiqui, has dismissed the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) as a diminished political force, incapable of spearheading any meaningful political movement.
In an interview with a private television channel, Siddiqui asserted, “PTI has lost its esteem. It cannot launch any significant agitation, especially in the current political climate.” He categorically denied the existence of any backchannel negotiations with PTI’s jailed founder Imran Khan, saying, “No government or establishment official has met him in jail, nor has any offer or proposal been extended. These are baseless claims designed to mislead PTI supporters.”
Siddiqui accused PTI of opportunism and lacking ideological clarity. “They claim they can mobilize millions, but now they are trying to ride on the platform of a woman like Maharang Baloch, whose credentials they once discredited. Tomorrow, they might join hands with the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA),” he alleged.
He also criticized the party’s response to the government and military leadership, recalling that Imran Khan’s long march, aimed at blocking the appointment of Gen. Syed Asim Munir as Chief of Army Staff, had “miserably failed to gather any substantial public support—even when he was free and at the height of popularity.”
Addressing accusations of political vendettas, Siddiqui said the current government has not indulged in victimization, unlike PTI during its time in power. “During PTI’s tenure, fabricated cases were filed against the opposition. We have not followed that path,” he stated.
He went on to criticize Imran Khan’s shifting rhetoric against the military. “One day it’s Mir Jafar and Mir Sadiq; the next it’s Pharaoh and Yazid. Every defeat turns into a religious metaphor, with Khan portraying himself as Imam Hussain,” Siddiqui remarked.
The senator ruled out the possibility of PTI forging credible political alliances, pointing to past failed coalitions. “Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Mahmood Khan Achakzai have already had bitter experiences with PTI. They [PTI] neither understand democratic norms nor have the capacity for meaningful dialogue,” he said.
Siddiqui concluded with a warning to Pakistan’s youth. “Why should the younger generation ruin their future for Imran Khan’s misadventures? If PTI continues down the path of May 9, it will only worsen its predicament.”
