Hindrance to conference: Opposition alliance accuses govt of employing pressure tactics against hotel admin

ISLAMABAD: The opposition alliance Tehreek Tahafuz Ayeen-e-Pakistan (TTAP) on Wednesday accused the government of using pressure tactics on the administration of a local hotel not to allow the second day of its two-day moot, which is being held at the venue, but vowed to proceed with it at all costs.

The two-day moot kicked off at a local hotel despite efforts by the local administration to block the moot under one pretext or another, where opposition parties gathered to discuss the current political situation and national issues.

Speaking at a presser, the opposition party leaders, prominently Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Mahmood Khan Achakzai, Asad Qaiser, and others, said the conference was on the country’s issues and the rule of law and the constitution.

“There was nothing that was against any matter of the state or any talk of incitement. Just talks on the constitution and the rule of law,” lamented Abbasi.

“This conference was behind closed doors. It was not out in the streets with the participation of hundreds of thousands but only a few hundred people were there in an auditorium but the government could not bear this and after the end of the conference’s first day,” he added.

He continued that the hotel administration told us that there were intelligence or administration officials here who threatened the hotel staff that if allowed to hold the moot, the hotel should get ready for millions of rupees’ penalty.

Abbasi maintained that despite all this, the opposition members were told that they could not hold the second day of the moot at the Legend Hotel’s premises, adding the hotel staff expressed its helplessness.

He said the opposition members told the hotel administration that they had already made a booking for two days and it was a national conference with a discussion of the country’s issues so if anyone had exerted pressure on the staff then this should be given in writing that the conference could not be held for the above reason.

“The hotel administration unfortunately appears desperate. So we have decided this conference will definitely take place tomorrow. This is our constitutional right. Not only that, we are also talking about the Constitution so this is the biggest argument for this government’s failure and weakness that today they’re worried by the name of the constitution. They are worried about one conference.”

Hitting out at a PML-N supplement published in today’s newspapers, he said its reality was that the government spending “billions on advertisements is today fearful of a single conference”.

He said the above amounted to the government’s “total performance” and said it was a moment to ponder what the state of the rest of the country, its affairs, and the government was then.

He vowed to proceed with the conference on Thursday no matter how hard the rulers try to block it, saying the PML-N regime is afraid of the opposition’s alliance, due to which, it does not want it to hold the conference.

A video shared on the PTI’s X account showed opposition members sitting in the office of a hotel staff member and telling him they would go ahead with their seminar’s second day, even if they had to hold it on the street outside the premises.

The hotel staff member could be heard saying: “I only know one thing, there are 150 employees here, it’s their livelihood, I’m looking at it from that angle. Politically you are completely right, I’m not objecting to anything. But if not today or tomorrow, they might come two days later, lock the place and go and then what I can do.”

The opposition members assured the staff member that they would support and fight for the employees if the premises were shut down.

The opposition leader in the National Assembly Omar Ayub praised the content of discussions on the conference’s first day, adding everyone talked about strengthening the country, and those who wanted to hold the moot are people with a democratic mindset.

“We are talking to strengthen the country and here the hotel administration came to us and expressed their desperation that they are under pressure. Questioned about whose pressure, they said: “You are wise people so please try to understand.”

“So then the sensible person understands that it either may be Gog and Magog or angels or intelligence officials but it must be someone who is pressuring them.”

Ayub said the opposition members demanded the hotel administration to give the matter in writing and said the alliance strongly condemned the situation.

“I am warning this installed authoritarian regime and its handlers that if we are stopped again tomorrow [today] as we’ll come, I’ll be left with no option but to approach the apex court seeking justice against all this,” he warned.

“We have already apprised the chief justice in a recent meeting and we will request him to give us justice.”

TTAP chairman Mehmood Khan Achakzai vowed to continue “this sacred battle” and said the alliance would return for the moot’s second day.

“This alliance has announced a fight against unconstitutional and undemocratic forces. We will fight this battle in a democratic manner,” he added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025