Too Early to Suggest Qureshi Will Lead PTI: Salman Akram Raja

News Desk

Islamabad: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Secretary General Salman Akram Raja has said it is premature to assume that senior party leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi will be taking over the party’s leadership, despite his recent acquittal in one of the May 9-related cases.

Speaking to the media outside the Islamabad High Court on Wednesday, Raja clarified that although Qureshi was acquitted by an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Lahore on Tuesday, he still faces eight to nine ongoing cases, which makes his immediate release unlikely. “It is too early to speculate on any leadership transition,” Raja remarked.

He said Qureshi’s legal challenges remain unresolved and highlighted that the party is still navigating a complex legal and political landscape. “We will see what happens now — what the decision-makers and planners intend — as the entire nation is being told that the justice system is no longer a justice system,” he added.

Judicial System Under Fire

Raja also came down hard on the judiciary, claiming the system was under pressure and functioning under external control.

He vowed that PTI would continue its struggle for judicial independence, arguing that the current system of justice has turned into a system of repression. “This is not just PTI’s issue — it is a national issue,” he said. “We are all victims of fascism, and no one is exempt.”

His remarks come in the wake of a Lahore ATC verdict that sentenced several PTI leaders and workers to 10 years in prison over the May 9 incidents.

Among those convicted were Dr Yasmin Rashid, a senior PTI figure and the Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly. Qureshi, however, was acquitted in the same set of cases.

Imran Khan’s Sons Meet Trump Aide in US

Meanwhile, in an international development, former prime minister Imran Khan’s sons, Sulaiman and Kasim Khan, met with former U.S. presidential envoy Richard Grenell in California on Tuesday. The meeting occurred ahead of PTI’s global protest campaign calling for the release of their incarcerated father.

Following the meeting, Grenell posted on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), expressing solidarity with the Khan family. “There are millions of people around the world who are sick of political prosecutions. You are not alone,” he wrote.

Dr Asif Mahmood, a Pakistani-American physician and political figure, was also present and shared a photo of the meeting. He praised Sulaiman and Kasim for “bravely fighting for their father’s freedom” and applauded Grenell for “standing for justice and principle.”

Kasim Khan also posted a message condemning the current government for his father’s “imprisonment and torture.” “Today, he is silenced, tortured, imprisoned, and completely cut off from us,” he wrote. “To see him now accused of that very crime [corruption] is a cruel, intolerable irony.”

Separately, an anti-terrorism court in Islamabad held a hearing in two protest-related cases against Imran Khan, Qureshi, and others.

Judge Tahir Abbas Sapra presided over the proceedings and distributed copies of the challans (charge sheets) to the accused who were present. Arrest warrants were issued for those who failed to appear.

The court announced that indictments would be formally issued at the next hearing, scheduled for July 30. Both cases were registered at Islamabad’s Khanna Police Station.

As PTI faces intensified legal pressure and leadership uncertainty, the party’s senior figures remain adamant about continuing their campaign for judicial fairness and political accountability, both at home and abroad.