ISLAMABAD: Amid back-to-back calls for reconciliation talks, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Ali Muhammad Khan has clarified that the expected dialogues will revolve around the release of incarcerated party founder Imran Khan and other detainees instead of striking a “deal”. Imran’s aide made the key statement after meeting the former prime minister at Adiala Jail on Friday. Ali said that he waited too long to meet the party founder, adding that the people firmly standing with “Imran are facing difficulties” in the country.
He said that they are ready to hold dialogues with anyone whether they are “political or other powers”. Elaborating on the genre of dialogues, he also said that they are not seeking any “deal” but are ready to hold dialogues.
Ali added that those who were willing to initiate talks would have to remove hatred against the PTI founder from their hearts. Additionally, he asked the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to “return the PTI’s mandate” and let the Imran-founded party do politics as the largest political party.
The National Assembly lawmaker, who is among those loyal PTI leaders who stick to the former ruling party despite several politicians parted ways after the May 9 riots in 2022, said that all cases, including the Al-Qadir Trust case, against Imran were false.
Responding to the incumbent Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government’s invitations for talks, Ali said that if the incumbent administration was serious about settling political disputes then it had to return the PTI’s mandate.
Ali, the former state minister, further said that they were also prepared to discuss the “rigged” 2024 general elections. He requested the Supreme Court chief justice to take suo motu notice of the “election rigging”, emphasising that fair and free polls were more important instead of just fulfilling orders of conducting elections.
On the other hand, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan claimed that his party was neither holding dialogues with anyone nor had any special message for talks.
Barrister Gohar, speaking to journalists outside Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail today, said that former premier Imran Khan was facing “politically-motivated” cases. He added that the PTI founder requested the judiciary to give judgements on his cases at the earliest.
He said that the Supreme Court would hear a case related to the PTI’s reserved seats on May 8, and pinned hopes on the top court to rule in favour of the former ruling party’s due quota of reserved seats by the prescribed law.
“Ali Amin Gandapur, Omar Ayub Khan and Shibli Faraz have been given the go-ahead to hold talks, but not to strike a deal, Gohar said, adding that they were to talk to anyone except three political parties, pointing towards the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P).
Gohar also demanded the formation of a judicial commission on “election rigging”. He added that the PTI founder wanted an independent judiciary and the party took a strong stance on the issue of the Islamabad High Court’s judges who complained about interference in judicial affairs in a letter to the top court.
The lawyer-cum-politician claimed that all high courts from Balochistan, Lahore, Sindh and Peshawar complained about facing external interference in their affairs. He added that an independent judiciary would enable the rule of law in the country. –Agencies
