{"id":3829,"date":"2026-06-24T08:59:42","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T08:59:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/?p=3829"},"modified":"2026-06-24T08:59:42","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T08:59:42","slug":"khawaja-asif-says-mahmood-khan-achakzai-looks-out-of-place-sitting-among-pti-members","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/?p=3829","title":{"rendered":"Khawaja Asif Says Mahmood Khan Achakzai Looks \u201cOut of Place\u201d Sitting Among PTI Members"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Islamabad:<\/strong> Defence Minister Khawaja Asif<\/strong> has said that he holds great respect for opposition leader Mahmood Khan Achakzai<\/strong>, but remarked that Achakzai appears \u201crather unusual\u201d sitting among members of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking during a session of the National Assembly<\/strong>, the Defence Minister called on opposition parties to move beyond past political disputes and sign a new Charter of Democracy<\/strong>, emphasizing the need for consensus and respect for democratic institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have great respect for Mahmood Khan Achakzai, but he looks somewhat strange sitting among PTI members,\u201d Khawaja Asif said while addressing lawmakers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Call for a New Charter of Democracy<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The minister urged political parties to learn from past experiences and work together to strengthen democratic norms in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He acknowledged that mistakes may have been made by various political actors in the past but argued that both the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)<\/strong> and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)<\/strong> had learned lessons from previous political confrontations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPerhaps mistakes were made by us as well in the past,\u201d he said. \u201cHowever, the PPP and PML-N learned from those experiences and signed the Charter of Democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Khawaja Asif referred to the political environment of the 1990s<\/strong>, noting that the period was marked by intense rivalry and instability. He said the Charter of Democracy helped create a framework for greater political understanding and cooperation between major parties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Importance of Parliamentary Respect<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Defence Minister stressed that maintaining the dignity and sanctity of Parliament is the responsibility of every elected representative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe respect and prestige of this House must be protected,\u201d he said. \u201cEvery member of Parliament has a responsibility to ensure that democratic institutions remain strong and respected.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He argued that constructive political engagement is essential for democratic stability and urged lawmakers to focus on strengthening parliamentary traditions rather than deepening political divisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Criticism of PTI Founder<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

During his speech, Khawaja Asif also criticized the founder of PTI, claiming that no political figure had caused as much damage to constitutional and democratic traditions as he had.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Constitution and democratic norms have been harmed more by the PTI founder than by anyone else,\u201d the Defence Minister said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He maintained that respect for democratic processes, parliamentary institutions, and constitutional principles should remain above political interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Renewed Debate on Political Reconciliation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Khawaja Asif\u2019s remarks come amid continuing tensions between the government and opposition parties over issues related to elections, governance, and parliamentary conduct.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His suggestion of a renewed Charter of Democracy reflects ongoing calls from some political leaders for greater cooperation among parties in order to reduce polarization and strengthen democratic institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The comments are likely to generate reactions from opposition leaders, particularly PTI, which has frequently accused the ruling coalition of undermining democratic principles and electoral transparency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As political debates continue inside and outside Parliament, discussions regarding democratic reforms, political reconciliation, and the future of inter-party cooperation remain central to Pakistan\u2019s evolving political landscape.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Islamabad: Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has said that he holds great respect for opposition leader Mahmood Khan Achakzai, but remarked that Achakzai appears \u201crather unusual\u201d..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3830,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pakistan"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/paksouch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/436726_1980691_updates-1.jpg",700,400,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/paksouch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/436726_1980691_updates-1-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/paksouch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/436726_1980691_updates-1-300x171.jpg",300,171,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/paksouch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/436726_1980691_updates-1.jpg",700,400,false],"large":["https:\/\/paksouch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/436726_1980691_updates-1.jpg",700,400,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/paksouch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/436726_1980691_updates-1.jpg",700,400,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/paksouch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/436726_1980691_updates-1.jpg",700,400,false]},"author_info":{"info":["admin"]},"category_info":"Pakistan<\/a>","tag_info":"Pakistan","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3829"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3829\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3831,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3829\/revisions\/3831"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}