Achakzai-led team to hold talks with govt

PTI clarifies no deal offered to Imran in jail

RAWALPINDI:

The PTI has decided that a delegation led by Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) chairman Mahmood Khan Achakzai, the chief of the opposition alliance Tehreek Tahafuz Ayeen-e-Pakistan (TTAP), would negotiate with the government – for the sake of ‘political stability’ in the country, to grab back their ‘stolen’ mandate, and secure the release of the party’s incarcerated activists, it announced on Sunday.

However, the party clarified that the body would only hold talks with the rulers, reiterating its earlier stance of not striking a “deal”.

Speaking outside Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail after meeting with incarcerated PTI founding chairman Imran Khan, the party’s incumbent chief, Barrister Gohar Ali Khan told the media that he as well as other party leaders had convinced the former premier that initiating a dialogue with the government was necessary and he had given the nod to move ahead with it.

He added that Imran was willing to take the course of forgiveness for what he had endured only so that the country could move ahead.

“He [Imran] has not been offered any deal in jail.”

Gohar said the PTI was repeatedly stressing the need for talks and the “power brokers” should listen to the party now.

The PTI chairman further said the lawyers representing Imran had met him in jail and were working on a legal strategy as per his instructions.

Gohar regretted that PM Shehbaz Sharif had ‘failed’ to gain any benefit for the country during his visit to China.

He appealed to the judiciary that it should hurriedly conclude the cases against the PTI founding chairman.

Speaking on the occasion, PTI leader Ali Muhammad Khan again tried to clarify that there a difference between holding talks and striking a deal.

He continued that Imran had spent around 300 days in jail but not struck a deal.

“If there is no progress in these negotiations even after [the upcoming] Eid, the PTI will stage a massive protest,” he warned.

He pointed out that the Islamabad High Court chief justice had expressed his annoyance over the change in the election tribunal in the federal capital, observing how could an acting president issue an ordinance in this connection.

The party leader maintained that Imran had never refused to hold negotiations but the government or anyone else had not reached out to him for this purpose.

Ali Muhammad explained that the talks would solely focus on two agendas – the release of the people affiliated with the PTI and the return of the ‘stolen’ mandate.

In a related development, talking to the media at Adiala Jail after the hearing of the £190 million corruption reference against him, Imran said that foreign investment in the country was not possible without political stability.

The PTI founding chairman called for action against Interior Minister and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Mohsin Naqvi, telling him to ‘undergo surgery’ after he failed to conduct fair elections.

He was responding to Naqvi’s remarks made a day earlier, in which he indicated that significant changes would take place in the national cricket team following the six-run defeat to India in the T20 World Cup 2024.

“Mohsin Naqvi is the biggest beneficiary of favouritism,” he added.