Hours after Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf announced on Sunday that it would join a sit-in the Pakistan Muslim League-N planned to hold outside parliament to express solidarity with the Election Commission (ECP), the party of Imran Khan decided against doing anything with it.

A meeting of the party’s strategic committee, presided over by Mr Khan, decided not to take part in the sit-in, because under its stated policy the PTI could not enter into any political cooperation with the PML-N.Imran Khan had told reporters a couple of hours before the meeting that the PTI would join any sit-in to be held for expressing solidarity with the ECP.

Minutes later, PTI president Javed Hashmi opposed the chairman’s views and criticised him for having made such a statement without consulting the party.The PTI will not take part in any sit-in to be organised by the PML-N,” a brief statement issued by the party’s spokesman Shafqat Mahmood said.“There is no truth in reports that the PTI would join any sit-in organised by the PML-N.”