Former prime minister and President of the Awaam Pakistan party Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Wednesday said those in power were “suppressing democracy and dismantling the judicial system” as he addressed a moot organised by the opposition alliance Tehreek Tahafuz Ayeen-i-Pakistan.
After talks between the government and the opposition collapsed in January, the PTI made another push to establish a joint front against the federal government and roped in Abbasi to become part of its anti-government movement.
The two-day moot conference kicked off in Islamabad today, where opposition parties gathered to discuss the current political situation and national issues.
Speaking during the conference, Abbasi — while referring to the ruling coalition of PML-N and PPP— said, “These are the same people who used to talk about the same things that I am talking about today.
“They talked about these issues for ages but today, they are suppressing democracy, dismantling the judicial system, suppressing public opinion and are unsuccessful in ending political anarchy. What is compelling you to make such moves?” he questioned.
“This is unfortunate because when those running the political system sell their conscience and when political parties abandon their principles, such countries don’t function. These are evident facts in Pakistan today,” he continued.
“Today, there is no permission to even talk, laws are being made to stop people from talking and to dismantle the judicial system,” he said, with an apparent reference to the recently promulgated Prevention of Electronic Crimes (Amendment) Act 2025, also known as Peca.
Referring to the ruling coalition, he said that those who championed democracy in the past were now more invested in political power, calling out the authorities concerned for making it difficult to arrange the moot.
“Now, their government is not even allowing a conference related to the Constitution to be held behind closed doors in the nation’s capital,” he said, adding that three venues of the conference had to be changed as the authorities did not allow holding the conference there.
“We are thankful to lawyers for providing this space today; we tried other places as well, including the institutions, but today the government is so scared that even a conference on the constitution is not possible,” Abbasi said.
He urged the public to speak up about the country’s affairs, the supremacy of the Constitution and the democratic process. “This is an open forum and this is everyone’s responsibility,” he said.
Speaking about the opposition alliance, he said that while it wasn’t unusual for different political parties to have disagreements, they all stood united when it came to the Constitution, its supremacy, respect for the law and the judicial system’s freedom.
In April last year, the PTI already formed a multi-party opposition alliance named Tehreek Tahafuz Ayeen-i-Pakistan, comprising the Sunni Ittehad Council, Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, Balochistan National Party-Mengal, Jamaat-i-Islami, and Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen.
Leaders of the Tehreek Tahaffuz Ayeen-i-Pakistan (TTAP) on Saturday also met Grand Democratic Alliance chief Pir Pagara and invited the GDA to the two-day national conference.
PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja had said on the occasion his party wanted democratic rights in the country. He was of the view that his party’s politics was for the people of Pakistan and urged others to join them since it was a struggle for the country’s survival.
Restrictions have been imposed on freedom of expression and trade unions are being abolished, he said, claiming that PTI was up against injustices and the party founder Imran Khan had asked them to approach everyone, including Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement leader Manzoor Pashteen and rights activist Mahrang Baloch.
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