Incarcerated former prime minister Imran Khan on Thursday met with key PTI leaders including former president Dr Arif Ali, who later urged powers that be to hold talks with the political party that enjoys support of “70% of the people”.
Imran Khan who is detained at Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail held the one-hour long meeting at the jail’s conference room. Apart from Dr Alvi, PTI leaders Omar Ayub, Raoof Hasan, Shibli Faraz as well as Imran’s wife Bushra Bibi, who was shifted to the prison a day earlier, were also present.
Talking to journalists outside the prison after the meeting, the former president said the solution to the issues lay in holding negotiations with the party that represented 70% of the electorate. He said there was evidence that PTI’s mandate was stolen at the February 8 general elections.
Alluding to the military media wing’s Tuesday press conference in which the army sought “sincere and public apology” from jailed Imran Khan over May 9. 2023 incidents of vandalism, Dr Alvi said forgiveness should not be sought from the oppressed but from the oppressor.
He said those involved in the May 9 incidents within the army had been punished, adding that some PTI members might also be involved in resorting to violent acts on May 9, 2023 but the authorities punished the entire party after the rioting incidents.
Dr Arif Ali also took exception to the press conference by the military’s media wing on a political matter, adding that former army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa had said the army had distanced itself from politics but such press conferences were tantamount to dragging the army into the political arena.
Read Alvi calls for forgive and forget
“Was there a need for a press conference? You have defamed the army by holding the presser.”
He said February 8 general elections were rigged. He said the army had no hand in this rigging but some of its officers might be involved in stealing the elections. The former president said there was no logic in claiming that the choice of 70% of the people of this country was wrong.
“Politics is not your job. For God's sake, spare our army; this is our institution. I urge the media to stand with the truth,” he said.
The president said it was pointless to hold negotiations with a government formed on the basis of a rigged election. “Talks can only be held with those who have the real power,” he said, adding that he had "taken instructions" from the PTI founder.
Speaking to the media, Omar Ayub confirmed that PTI leader Sher Afzal Marwat had been removed from the party’s core and political committee due to violation of the party’s code of conduct.
"The PTI founder had given Sher Afzal Marwat much respect and honor. He was repeatedly stopped from violating party policies. However, he attempted to damage the party founder’s relations with the Saudi government. The party will take disciplinary action against him and issue him a show-cause notice,” he said.
He said both the debacle of 1971 and May 9 incidents were conspiracies. “The PTI founder has said that the May 9 incidents were part of the London plan. However, a single person and not a state institution hatched this conspiracy,” he added.
Raoof Hasan said Imran Khan has directed the party to file three more petitions in the Supreme Court.
“The first petition will seek retrieval of the CCTV footage of attacks on military installations on May 9, 2023; the second petition will be regarding the murder of 16 PTI workers on May 9, and the third will be regarding former caretaker PM Anwarul Haq's statement about alleged rigging in the February 8 polls.”
He said according to Imran Khan the disappearance of the CCTV footage of that fateful day corroborates his claim about May 9 incidents being part of a London Plan. “Imran Khan has also assigned former president Dr Arif Alvi an important responsibility,” he added.
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