ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – The opposition parliamentarian continued their sit-in at the Parliament House over concerns on the health of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf founder and former prime minister Imran Khan for the third day on Sunday.
The sit-in by the main opposition alliance Tehreek-i-Tahafuz-i-Ayin-i-Pakistan (TTAP) started after the Supreme Court (SC) was informed on Thursday that Imran Khan had lost 85 percent sight in his right eye. The alliance decided to continue sit-in until the ex-premier was shifted to a hospital of his personal doctors’ choice.
Although Parliamentary Affairs Minister Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry confirmed on Saturday that the government has decided to shift him to hospital and form a medical board, the PTI founder was still languishing in the Adiala Jail on Sunday morning.
PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan shared visuals of him, TTAP Chairman Mehmood Khan Achakzai, Senate Opposition Leader Allama Raja Nasir Abbas, PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja, MNA Asad Qaiser and Senator Faisal Javed, among others, sitting at Parliament House.
The TTAP leadership, in the meantime, said the situation has grown more complicated instead of being resolved smoothly.
“Last night, we were told that Imran Khan would be moved to Shifa International Hospital. However, we were asked to change the doctors on the medical board, as including doctors of our choice would suggest that the government had backed down.
“So we showed flexibility and proposed a few additional names, with the understanding that their identities would not be disclosed to the media,” it said.
“Now we are receiving messages that we must first call off the sit-in before Imran Khan is moved to the hospital and the medical board is formally announced. How can we end the sit-in without our demands being met?” they asked.
They said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi — who is holding a sit-in at KP House in the federal capital — had also reached out to government representatives, warning that the situation could slip beyond his control if it was not addressed promptly.
The officials informed them that the interior minister was in Sri Lanka, while the speakers of both the National Assembly and Senate were also out of the country, making it difficult for authorities to take a decision.
Meanwhile, TTAP Spokesperson Akhunzada Hussain Yousafzai said that it has been decided to continue the sit-in till the fulfilment of the demands.