• Opposition delegation to meet Pir Pagara, GDA during Sindh visit.
• To also interact with business community, lawyers, journalists.
• Achakzai, Khaqan Abbasi mull national conference on Feb 26-27.

ISLAMABAD: Amid the apparent deadlock in stalled talks between Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the government, opposition parties have decided to strengthen their anti-government alliance as they also plan to engage with like-minded parties through key meetings and discussions, The News reported on Saturday.

As a part of its contact drive and to expand the alliance, the opposition leadership will visit Sindh and during the three-day stay there, it will meet the leaders of like-minded parties, including Pir Pagara as well as the Grand Democratic Alliance and Ayaz Palijo in Hyderabad.

The disclosure comes days after PTI founder Imran Khan issued directives to the party to expedite “establishing contact with other opposition parties for protests after Eid”.

The former ruling party’s strategy was announced by Khan’s lawyer Faisal Chaudhry, who said that the PTI was working towards forming a grand opposition alliance, focused on certain objectives including restoration of the constitution and democracy.

The former prime minister, as per Chaudhry, ordered Asad Qaiser to contact all opposition parties, including the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), Mahmood Khan Achakzai’s Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), Shahid Khaqan Abbasi’s Awaam Pakistan, Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA), Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Mahrang Baloch, and others.

The opposition’s move to strengthen itself provisions a three-day stay in Sindh during which their delegation would meet the leaders of like-minded parties, including Pir Pagara as well as the Grand Democratic Alliance and Ayaz Palijo in Hyderabad.

The opposition delegation will include PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja, Achakzai, Qaiser, Sahibzada Hamid Raza, Akhunzada Hussain, Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) and Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM) leaders.

The opposition alliance will also meet the business community, the bar association, the PTI Karachi officials, and journalists.

Separately, ex-PM and convener of Awaam Pakistan Party Abbasi told reporters along with Achakzai that consultations with the opposition parties were ongoing, as people wanted a solution to the current situation in the country.

“[Mahmood Khan] Achakzai consulted me on the national conference being held on February 26-27. We agreed to hold the moot to find a way out to the country’s problems, as we want to play a role in solving the country’s problems,” he contended.

He said they wanted to invite everyone to the conference. He explained that the conference would discuss national issues, while the youth of Pakistan was disappointed.

“To end their disappointment, we need to end the country’s problems. Our survival lies in the supremacy of the Constitution and rule of law,” he remarked.

Speaking on the occasion, Tehreek Tahafuz Aiyeen-e-Pakistan chief Achakzai said parliament should be made the supreme institution through a genuine vote.

“Everyone is welcome to attend the conference, including even serving and retired generals and judges. We should use our collective wisdom to steer the country out of crises,” he remarked.

Achakzai further said that he wanted a fresh beginning for a democratic Pakistan, with the rule of law and supremacy of the constitution.