Incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan said on Tuesday that for the talk between his party and the government to reap meaningful results, he needs to meet his negotiation team to understand the issues properly.
Since Imran’s incarceration last year based on several cases, his party’s relationship with the government, as well as the establishment, has turned exceedingly sour. The PTI has held several protests over the last year, most of which escalated into violence after facing state repression.
Following the PTI’s ‘Final Call’ power show last month, tensions escalated as there were renewed calls to ban the party and task forces formed against an alleged “malicious campaign” as the PTI claimed a dozen deaths of its supporters, which the government officially denies.
However, after Imran formed a five-member committee to hold talks with “anyone” his lawmakers had a softened stance in the parliament.
Subsequently, following the recommendation of National Assembly (NA) Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif last week formed a committee comprising ruling coalition members. The first meeting between committees took place yesterday, kicking off long-anticipated talks between the rival parties to defuse prevailing political tensions.
As per a post on his official X account, during his conversation with his lawyers, the former premier — while terming the efforts of the party’s negotiation committee as a “good thing” — said today that it was important for him to “meet the negotiation team to make the process meaningful and for him to have a proper understanding of the issues”.
Imran nominated MNA Sahibzada Mohammad Hamid Raza as the spokesperson for the party’s negotiation committee.
He said that if the government was interested in carrying out “fruitful negotiations”, it had to meet two demands of the PTI: The release of under-trial political prisoners and the establishment of a judicial commission consisting of senior judges on the incidents of May 9 and November 26.
Imran said that the party would postpone its civil disobedience movement if the demands were met, however, he expressed his fear that the government would sideline their demand for a judicial commission.
He also rejected the decision handed out by the military courts where 25 individuals were sentenced ranging from two to 10 years for their involvement in violent attacks on military installations during nationwide riots on May 9, 2023.
Negotiation time frame
Meanwhile, during a conversation with the media outside the Adiala Jail after meeting Imran, PTI Chairman Gohar Khan said that the former premier called for a time frame for the negotiations during which some progress should be made.
“We have said before that some progress should be made on our two major demands within the time frame that we are expecting,” he said.
He said that the party would present their charter of demands in the next meeting with the government. Before that, however, the party was trying for the negotiation committee to meet Imran.
“Imran Khan has said he is hopeful that a solution to all issues will be found,” Gohar said.
The PTI chairman added that all the cases against the PTI founder were political and he was hopeful that the former premier would be acquitted in all of them “if a fair trial took place”.
In response to why all the committee members were not present in the meeting yesterday, Gohar affirmed that all the members of the committee will be present in the next meeting where they will submit their demands in writing.
