Opposition alliance holds 2nd day of Islamabad grand moot despite hurdles

The opposition alliance Tehreek-i-Tahaffuz-i-Ayeen-i-Pakistan (TTAP) on Thursday went ahead with holding its second and final day of its grand conference in Islamabad despite facing hurdles in securing a venue.

The moot kicked off at Islamabad’s Legend Hotel yesterday, with the TTAP accusing the government of pressuring the hotel administration to revoke permission for the event’s second day. However, Rana Sanaullah, the prime minister’s aide on political affairs, had rebuffed those claims.

The opposition parties have gathered to discuss issues related to constitutional breaches, human rights violations, freedom of speech and political instability in the country.

“We have begun our seminar inside the [hotel’s] lobby, everyone is delivering their speeches and the seminar is underway,” TTAP Information Secretary Shaista Khosa told Dawn.com.

“We said [holding a gathering] is our right … we can go inside the lobby and sit there,” she said, wondering how a hall could be shut when it had already been booked for that period.

“The [hotel] administration appears to be totally helpless. They are saying they do not have anything in their control,” the TTAP leader claimed.

Khosa further alleged that there were some Frontier Constabulary personnel stationed outside the hotel and that “some media persons were told to return”.

Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Omar Ayub, ex-premier and Awaam Pakistan President Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja, Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party’s (PkMAP’s) Mahmood Khan Achakzai, and Sunni Ittehad Council’s (SIC) Sahibzada Hamid Raza, among others, had reached the venue, Khosa said.

Besides Ayub, Abbasi and Achakzai, leaders from various political parties attended today’s conference — including Awaam Pakistan leader and former finance minister Miftah Ismail, former PPP senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) leader Liaquat Baloch, as well as JUI-F’s MNA Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri and Senator Kamran Murtaza.

In a post on X, the PTI’s UK chapter shared clips of security personnel, alleging: “Entrance to Legend Hotel blocked by troops this morning. Participants prevented from entering.

“National conference for the restoration of constitutional democracy again interrupted,” it added.

Incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan had asked his party leaders to approach everyone, including political activists Manzoor Pashteen and Mahrang Baloch, according to Raja. Those attending yesterday’s conference also included Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) President Afzal Butt and journalist Asma Shirazi.

In April last year, the PTI had already formed the TTAP, a multi-party opposition alliance comprising the SIC, PkMAP, Balochistan Nat­ion­­al Party-Mengal, Jamaat-i-Islami, and Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen.

After talks between the government and the opposition collapsed in January, the PTI made another push to establish a joint front against the ruling coalition by roping in ex-premier Shahid Khaqan Abbasi earlier this month to become part of its movement.

Last week, TTAP leaders also met Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) chief Pir Pagara and invited his party to the national conference.

PTI’s Ayub addresses moot

PTI leaders at the conference lambasted the ruling coalition, terming it an “installed regime”, and decried alleged actions taken against their party.

Addressing the gathering, Ayub alleged, “This is an installed regime [based on] Form-47s, they do not have the public mandate.”

He also urged the government to engage with the people of Balochistan and to resolve the issue of missing persons. “Please think about the country, gather the people […] and give the people of Balochistan their rights.”

“The mindset of Balochistan’s youth has completely changed,” he said, claiming that a “dangerous spark has ignited” there.