Leaders at the All Parties Conference (APC), held under the banner of Tehreek Tehreek Tahafuz Ayin, said Friday that the opposition is being systematically sidelined and suppressed. In a joint statement, they stressed the need for a unified strategy to address the country’s growing political and economic challenges.
Speaking at the conclusion of the two-day APC, opposition leader Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar accused authorities of trying to eliminate space for dissent. He said local administration forced the cancellation of their venue booking at a hotel in Islamabad. Despite this, the conference went ahead, and participants strongly condemned the Islamabad administration’s interference.
The APC statement expressed concern over the country’s constitutional, political, and economic crises. It said opposition leaders are being denied political space and criticized what it called growing political victimization. It also condemned the continued imprisonment of PTI’s founding chairman and his wife, demanding speedy hearings in their legal cases.
Economic issues were also highlighted. The statement said that unemployment has reached 22%, poverty is rising, and the business community is moving capital out of the country. Mustafa Khokhar added that over 45% of the population now lives below the poverty line.
The joint declaration also dismissed the 2024 general elections as invalid, calling for free and independent elections. It criticized the role of the Chief Justice, calling it “ceremonial,” and praised the six Islamabad High Court judges who wrote a dissenting letter as “heroes of the nation.” The APC vowed to support their stance on judicial independence.