Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has set September 27 for a march toward the federal capital. However, senior party figures say PTI’s main decision-making bodies did not approve the date.
The conflicting accounts have placed the PTI Islamabad long march at the centre of a new internal dispute. They also raise questions about who controls the opposition party’s street campaign.
PTI Islamabad long march reveals competing accounts
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi announced the march during PTI’s August 5 rally in Peshawar.
K-P Information Minister Shafi Jan later said the date followed consultation with the party and its allies. His August 8 statement described the mobilisation as potentially lasting several days.
Jan said PTI had exhausted its legal and constitutional options over Imran Khan’s treatment and detention. He also said the party was contacting religious and opposition groups about participating.
That account does not fully match statements from PTI’s central leadership.
The Express Tribune reported that several party leaders were surprised by Afridi’s announcement. PTI Central Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram confirmed that neither the political committee nor the core committee had discussed the march.
Akram nevertheless said Imran Khan had placed Afridi in charge of the street movement. That delegated authority, he suggested, allowed the chief minister to make mobilisation decisions.
Public date, unresolved planning questions
The disagreement leaves PTI with a public date but competing explanations of how it was chosen. Statements reviewed for this story did not provide a final route or detailed arrangements for the march.
PTI has linked the mobilisation to demands concerning Imran Khan’s imprisonment. These include regular meetings, access to his personal doctors and progress in pending court cases.
The PTI Islamabad long march follows nationwide demonstrations marking three years since Khan’s imprisonment. It signals that the party intends to sustain political pressure beyond the August 5 anniversary.
A possible parliamentary channel also remains uncertain. Dawn reported that Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry had renewed a government offer for talks.
PTI responded that negotiations required better access to Khan and medical care from his chosen doctors. National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq later denied that he had personally proposed renewed negotiations during the meeting.
September march becomes a party test
The September 27 announcement moves PTI from anniversary demonstrations toward another planned mobilisation in Islamabad. Yet the consultation dispute may complicate preparations and coordination with potential allies.
For now, the PTI Islamabad long march remains formally announced. The party must still reconcile Afridi’s operational authority with its central committees and wider leadership.
