Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan stated on Tuesday that the existing political system has lost the confidence of the public, making a fundamental reset unavoidable. Speaking outside Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, he highlighted that a major government ally, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), had accused the prime minister of being elected through rigging.
Gohar added that although he also viewed the PPP’s rise as a result of rigged elections, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif should have promptly sought a vote of confidence following the PPP’s allegations. The prime minister’s silence, he argued, indicated a loss of confidence, suggesting that the entire government framework has effectively collapsed.
He further asserted that the government has lost its moral, constitutional, legal, and democratic legitimacy. This discussion about the system’s failure and the call for new administrative units or provinces gained momentum after Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi recently declared, “The system we are living under has collapsed. Problems cannot be solved through it. If this system continues, we will still be sitting here 10 years from now discussing the same issues. You have to move towards administrative units. Call them provinces or give them any other name.”
While the PPP has outright rejected this proposal, some of Naqvi’s cabinet colleagues, including Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and Prime Minister’s adviser Rana Sanaullah, have also distanced themselves from the idea. Sanaullah dismissed Naqvi’s remarks as “nonsense,” whereas Asif described Naqvi as the “most powerful minister” in the cabinet, noting that he is not accountable to the prime minister on several issues.
Meanwhile, Gohar emphasized that instead of continuing to form governments under the current conditions, the people should be allowed to decide through a fresh public mandate. He pointed out that the Constitution provides a mechanism for a vote of no confidence and that PTI would consult its allies accordingly. He stressed the need for political consensus in the national interest to resolve the ongoing crisis.
Additionally, Gohar urged the parliament to make meaningful progress on the public demands of the provinces. While he insisted there should be no disagreement over resetting the system, he questioned who was responsible for pushing it into its present “default mode.”
