September 15, 2026
Staff Report
ISLAMABAD
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and Member of the National Assembly (MNA) Sher Afzal Marwat has said that he does not believe the long march announced for September 27 will take place. However, he said that even if the march goes ahead, he does not believe that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi will come under any pressure.
In an interview with Munizae Jahangir, Sher Afzal Marwat said that a clear objective and a comprehensive narrative were essential for the September 27 protest. According to him, the movement should not remain limited to PTI but should also be linked to the basic rights of ordinary Pakistanis, press freedom and other public issues.
Marwat said that if the long march did not take place on September 27, PTI workers’ time would be wasted. He said that instead of announcing a long march after three years, the party should have developed an effective strategy for it much earlier.
He said the situation would become clear by September 27 and the public would see where everyone stood. He added that he preferred to express his opinion rather than give people false assurances.
‘PTI was harmed by its own people’
Sher Afzal Marwat claimed that after February 8, PTI suffered the greatest damage because of internal conflicts among its own members. According to him, various groups emerged within the party and internal disagreements surfaced almost every day.
He accused some PTI leaders, including Hamid Khan, Salman Akram Raja and Shibli Faraz, of having conspired against him in the past, although he said he had now moved beyond those disputes.
Marwat said PTI should also not have hesitated to bring new political figures into the party. According to him, several important personalities contacted him after May 9, but resistance emerged within the party to their inclusion.
He said the party should have collectively stood by some of those who left PTI, arguing that certain individuals had been affected by pressure, arrests or other circumstances.
September 27: A test case for Sohail Afridi?
Sher Afzal Marwat said the September 27 protest had also become a test case for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi.
According to him, even if the long march takes place, Afridi is unlikely to back down, while even if the march does not take place, he will not retreat politically.
Marwat claimed that Mohsin Naqvi and the establishment were trying to provide PTI with a way out of the September 27 protest that would allow both sides to “save face.”
He also claimed that if some demands concerning Imran Khan’s residence or health were accepted, a way could emerge to call off the protest. However, he did not present any final agreement or decision in this regard.
Key claim about Bushra Bibi
Responding to former senator Faisal Vawda’s statement that Imran Khan could potentially be released if he separated from his wife, Bushra Bibi, Sher Afzal Marwat said that influential circles viewed Imran Khan’s wife as even more unpopular than Khan himself. He said there could be several reasons behind this perception and that he possessed some information about the matter in confidence which he could not disclose.
Marwat said one possible reason could be the perception that Bushra Bibi had shown special favour or consideration toward former ISI chief Lieutenant General (retd.) Faiz Hameed. He described Imran Khan’s respect for and relationship with his wife as a personal matter and said domestic issues should not be made part of political debate.
Position on new provinces
On the issue of creating new provinces, Sher Afzal Marwat said PTI’s constitution supports the creation of additional provinces and that Imran Khan had also spoken in the past about creating more provinces on administrative grounds.
He said he supported the creation of new provinces but had reservations about initiating the debate at the present time. According to him, if the proposal for new provinces had originated from the establishment, all stakeholders and political parties should have been taken into confidence.
Marwat said he did not reject a position merely because the establishment also supported it. According to him, if a position was consistent with his principles and his previous political stance, he would not remain silent on it. He said the advantages and disadvantages of creating new provinces should be debated on the basis of logic and arguments, while national consensus on the issue was essential.
PTI negotiations?
Referring to PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar’s remarks about bringing political forces together under the concept of the “Treaty of Hudaybiyyah,” Sher Afzal Marwat said the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah did not have a direct connection with democracy.
He nevertheless acknowledged that the current political situation was not normal and that uncertainty existed at the political, judicial and administrative levels. Marwat said the behaviour of Pakistan’s current political actors also reflected these extraordinary circumstances and that the country needed serious political dialogue to find a way out of the situation.
Petition concerning Ali Amin Gandapur
Sher Afzal Marwat said former KP CM Ali Amin Gandapur had not been aware beforehand of the petition filed against him or concerning his position. According to Marwat, when Gandapur learned about the matter, he called him and said that it would damage his reputation. Marwat said he had taken the step based on his own political thinking and that his position was aligned with Sohail Afridi.
“I struggled for Khan, not for PTI”
Speaking about his relationship with the party, Sher Afzal Marwat said he did not consider himself a “defector,” arguing that a defector was someone who abandoned his ideology or political path.
He said his relationship with Imran Khan has remained intact, although he had removed several posts and other material from his social media accounts that connected him with other members of the party. Marwat said he had made every possible effort for Imran Khan’s political struggle and government, and that his primary political association was with Imran Khan.
He said that if Imran Khan was released from prison, he would stand by his previous statement that he would step aside and withdraw from active politics.
At the conclusion of the interview, Sher Afzal Marwat said that for a political movement to succeed, it needed a clear objective, public outreach, mobilisation of workers and a narrative that addressed not only the interests of a single political party but also the problems faced by ordinary Pakistanis.