Lahore, December 28, 2025: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Sunday rejected the notion of entering dialogue with the government from a position of weakness, saying talks could only take place after the party secures a “level-playing field” through street protests, according to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and PTI Secretary-General Salman Akram Raja.
CM Afridi, accompanied by provincial ministers and lawmakers, was in Lahore to launch a fresh street movement on the directives of incarcerated party founder Imran Khan. He later left for the motorway in the evening.
Earlier in the day, speaking to senior journalists at a private residence in Lahore’s Defence Housing Authority, Afridi said reconciliation without resistance was not possible. “We will be at a loss if we enter into dialogue without resistance. The protest movement will continue until the rulers come to the table after recognising the opposition as an equal partner,” he said.
Responding to criticism that PTI had been protesting for a long time without tangible results, the KP chief minister said the party would focus on practical steps rather than making tall claims. “This time, we will do practical work and come up with a positive output,” he added.
PTI Secretary-General Salman Akram Raja said no political party could afford to head into a “blind alley.” He accused the government of trying to silence PTI on issues including alleged election rigging, the release of party founder Imran Khan, and what he described as interference by institutions in politics and journalism.
Raja said reconciliation and dialogue could only begin once “basic principles” were agreed upon. Otherwise, he said, the party would continue its street agitation to have those principles accepted.
After the media interaction, CM Afridi attempted to visit the residences of party leaders Mirza Afridi and families of incarcerated former Punjab governor Omar Sarfraz Cheema and advocate Hassan Niazi. However, he was stopped from entering the Lahore cantonment area.
Expressing frustration, Afridi said the cantonment had effectively been turned into a no-go area. “I asked whether Pakistan’s territory ends here and another country’s land starts,” he remarked, criticizing the Punjab government for what he termed harsh treatment of a provincial chief minister. He said he had been facing similar restrictions for the past three days and demanded a written explanation for being denied entry.
Raja added that the KP chief minister had even offered to proceed without security personnel but was still not allowed to enter the area.
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had offered talks with the opposition, while stressing that any dialogue would be limited to “legitimate matters.”
Punjab govt ridicules PTI movement
Meanwhile, Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari dismissed PTI’s street movement as ineffective, saying it failed to attract public support despite online hype. In a post on X, she claimed PTI supporters were sharing images of Bangladesh to exaggerate the impact of the protests.
Bokhari said there was no public response to slogans raised by PTI protesters and sarcastically remarked that party leaders had “toured the ‘Europe of Pakistan,’ Lahore, enough under heavy protocol.”
“Please, let Lahore breathe in peace,” she said, urging PTI leaders to return to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and focus on resolving issues faced by the people of their own province rather than staging protests elsewhere.
