Islamabad, September 11, 2026: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan on Friday announced that the joint opposition would soon convene an All Parties Conference (APC) to discuss the creation of new provinces in the country.
Gohar made the announcement after a delegation-level meeting with Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman at his residence.
Talking to journalists after the meeting, Gohar said it was the first meeting of the joint opposition and that the parties had agreed to take all political forces into confidence on important national issues.
He said the joint opposition platform would also be used for consultations on National Assembly and Senate matters, assembly sessions and issues concerning prisoners.
Gohar said the PTI and JUI-F had previously discussed the formation of a joint opposition and had reached an understanding on the issue in both the Senate and National Assembly.
He described the first meeting as encouraging and said consultations would continue. He added that the opposition had not yet been invited to join the proposed long march, while the possibility of participation in the APC was discussed.
JUI-F leader Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri welcomed the opposition delegation and said the meeting discussed the proposed APC, creation of new provinces and other national issues.
He said political parties would have to play a collective role in addressing the country’s problems. He noted that other political parties, including Jamaat-e-Islami, were also protesting against inflation, while JUI-F had organised rallies across the country on the issue.
According to a joint declaration, the PTI delegation was led by Barrister Gohar and included Salman Akram Raja, Asad Qaiser, Firdous Shamim Naqvi and Hussain Ahmad Yousafzai. Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri and Maulana Asad Mahmood represented the JUI-F at the meeting.
The participants also discussed the proposed APC by the Tehreek Tahaffuz Ayeen-e-Pakistan (TTAP), the PTI’s September 27 protest call, rule of law and supremacy of the Constitution.
The meeting also held detailed discussions on strengthening the constitutional and democratic system and stressed the need for mutual consultation and joint political struggle.
Separately, TTAP chief Mehmood Khan Achakzai said in a post on X that consultations had begun on arranging a meeting between the offices of the opposition leader and the prime minister following a letter from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
“In view of Pakistan’s deteriorating situation, it has been decided that an All Parties Conference will be convened at the earliest,” Achakzai said.
Earlier, a meeting of opposition leaders was held in the chamber of Allama Raja Nasir Abbas, Opposition Leader in the Senate, under Achakzai’s chairmanship. The meeting discussed the proposed September 27 protest.
The debate over creating new provinces intensified in July after Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said Pakistan’s governance system had “collapsed” and called for fundamental reforms and greater devolution of powers through new administrative units.
Naqvi later clarified that his assessment referred to the deterioration of the system over the past 80 years rather than any particular government.
On September 5, he said the creation of new administrative units should be based on the wishes of the people and described the current situation as requiring a “system reset.”
“Reset does not mean breaking down the system. Reset means making wrongs right,” he said, adding that work on new administrative units would proceed only with public backing.
Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal subsequently called for a national debate on Pakistan’s administrative structure and proposed the creation of 12 to 15 provinces.
The issue has also exposed differences among ruling coalition partners, with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) appearing divided over the creation of new administrative units or provinces.
