Islamabad – September 2, 2025: Lawmakers belonging to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Tuesday staged a walkout from the National Assembly and convened a symbolic “Awami Assembly” on the steps of Parliament House, accusing the government of silencing the opposition inside the legislature.
The PTI members, acting on directives from party founder Imran Khan, marked their attendance in the Assembly session before leaving the chamber together. Led by Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, they gathered outside Parliament where dozens of legislators carried placards, chanted slogans against inflation and unemployment, and alleged political victimization of their party workers.
Speaking to reporters, Barrister Gohar said PTI lawmakers were left with no choice but to protest. “We were elected to raise the people’s voice, but the government has shut us out of parliamentary debate. If we cannot be heard inside, we will hold our own Awami Assembly to represent the people,” he remarked.
PTI Information Secretary Waqas Akram said the strategy would continue in upcoming sessions. He explained that party members would attend briefly to mark presence and then move outside to hold their own parallel assembly. Several MNAs also delivered speeches, vowing to expand the protest to other major cities and intensify their campaign against the government.
The move comes amid heightened political tensions following a Supreme Court verdict earlier this year that stripped PTI of its reserved seats for women and minorities. The party has already announced plans for a nationwide protest movement after Muharram, framing Tuesday’s boycott as part of a broader struggle against what it calls systematic exclusion from the democratic process.
Political observers believe the Awami Assembly tactic could help PTI maintain public attention, though critics warn that bypassing formal institutions risks further weakening parliamentary democracy.
