The Tehreek-i-Tahaffuz-i-Ayeen-i-Pakistan (TTAP), a multi-party opposition alliance, successfully convened the second and final day of its grand conference in Islamabad on Thursday, despite facing obstacles in securing a venue.
The conference began on Wednesday at Islamabad’s Legend Hotel, but TTAP alleged that the government pressured the hotel’s management to cancel arrangements for the second day. However, Rana Sanaullah, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s adviser on political affairs, rejected the allegations.
The agenda of the moot focused on constitutional violations, human rights abuses, restrictions on free speech, and the prevailing political instability in Pakistan.
“We are holding our seminar in the hotel lobby instead. Speakers are delivering their addresses, and the event is proceeding,” TTAP Information Secretary Shaista Khosa told Dawn.com.
She argued that holding a public gathering is their constitutional right, questioning why a pre-booked hall would be suddenly closed off. Khosa claimed the hotel management was under pressure and appeared helpless, saying, “They claim they have no authority over the matter.”
Khosa also alleged that Frontier Constabulary personnel were deployed outside the hotel and some journalists were told to leave the premises.
Key opposition figures attending the conference included Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Omar Ayub, former Prime Minister and Awaam Pakistan leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja, Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai, and Sunni Ittehad Council’s Sahibzada Hamid Raza.
Additionally, leaders such as Miftah Ismail (Awaam Pakistan), former PPP Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, Jamaat-i-Islami’s Liaquat Baloch, and JUI-F’s Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri and Senator Kamran Murtaza were present.
The PTI’s UK chapter posted footage on X, showing security personnel blocking the hotel entrance and stopping participants from entering. The chapter described it as yet another attempt to disrupt the national conference for constitutional democracy.
According to Salman Akram Raja, imprisoned PTI founder Imran Khan had instructed party leaders to engage with activists like Manzoor Pashteen and Mahrang Baloch. Participants at the first day’s session included PFUJ President Afzal Butt and senior journalist Asma Shirazi.
The TTAP alliance, formed by the PTI in April 2024, includes parties such as SIC, PkMAP, BNP-Mengal, Jamaat-i-Islami, and Majlis Wahdat-ul-Muslimeen. After government-opposition talks collapsed in January, the PTI worked to build a broader opposition front, recently persuading Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to join its cause.
Just last week, TTAP leaders also approached GDA chief Pir Pagara, inviting him to participate in the national conference.
Omar Ayub’s Address
Speaking at the conference, PTI’s Omar Ayub strongly criticized the ruling coalition, calling it an “installed regime” that came to power through manipulated Form-47s, rather than genuine public support.
Ayub also urged the government to address grievances in Balochistan, particularly the issue of missing persons, warning that alienation among Baloch youth was deepening. “The youth’s mindset has shifted dramatically,” he cautioned, describing the situation in Balochistan as a “dangerous spark waiting to ignite.
