The major political parties, including the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) strongly reacted to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman announcement to launch civil disobedience movement, terming it tantamount to sedition against the state.
Talking to Business Recorder PML-N central secretary information Senator Mushahidullah Khan criticised Imran Khan's call for launching civil disobedience movement against the state and not the government of the time. According to him, there is only one political party in the government while the scope of civil disobedience goes much beyond it.
By igniting people towards civil disobedience, he added, Imran's stance clearly indicates that his movement is against the state and not the government, which is not acceptable as the people of Pakistan know how to defend their motherland.
However, he said that PTI chairman is quite known for changing his stance from time to time on different issue and this time he might revisit his decision as this is not an easy task.
About support of other political parties to defuse the tension between the PTI and PML-N, he seemed quite optimistic that Pakistan People's Party (PPP), the major opposition political party in parliament, will also reject and stand by the government.
"This is something when movements of civil disobedience are launched when there is invasion on the country. I don't know how PTI decided to take such an extreme step which can not be justified in the prevailing circumstances," he regretted.
President Awami National Party (ANP) also termed the announcement of Imran Khan to launch civil disobedience movement completely unconstitutional, undemocratic and could not be justified in any way. He called upon the prime minister to convene a joint-sitting of parliament for finding a political solution to the problem. However, he said the issue could be resolved through negotiations but he also added the prime minister should also get a vote of confidence.
Pervaiz Rashid, federal minister for information and broadcasting strongly condemned the move, saying not a single person will follow him in launching a civil disobedience movement in the country. He said that PTI sit-in is not more than a joke as Khan failed to gather even 1 million people. But he still showed optimism that government will find a solution to the issue through talks.
Senator Mushahid Ullah of PML-N termed it politically subside of the PTT, saying that the nation as well as PTI workers will not except the decision.
Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) spokesman Jan Achakzai said that Imran Khan wants to create anarchy in the country, adding provoking people against the state is an attempt to turn Pakistan into a Neo-Somalia. According to him, the sole purpose behind Khan's decision for launching civil disobedience movement is nothing but his thirst for premiership.
PPP leader Qamar Zaman Kaira strongly criticised the PTI decision and said that the party has taken an extreme step, which can not be defended, adding it could fire back and the party should have thought before going for such harsh decision.
Criticising the PML-N he said that the situation became worse due to its own fault. He said that the government could have averted the situation by taking timely decision but it came into action when it was too late. He called upon the government to go negotiations with PTI as soon as possible as any civil disobedience movement at this critical stage will not benefit anybody including the PTI. "The word civil disobedience is not easy as it will harm the state and state institutions. The government should take immediate steps to defuse the tension as soon as possible. We've been advocating for dialogue from the day-one and still there is time and things can be controlled from further damage," he contended.