Imran empowers aides to negotiate with 'establishment'

Permits CM Gandapur, Barrister Gohar to hold talks; sets Nov 21 deadline

RAWALPINDI:

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan mandated Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur and party Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan to open dialogue with the establishment, his sister Aleema Khan said on Tuesday.

Talking to reporters outside the Adiala Jail after a meeting between Imran and the two PTI leaders, Aleema Khan said that the PTI founder set a deadline of November 21 - three days before the party's planned protest in the federal capital - for those talks.

Gandapur, along with Barrister Gohar, visited Imran ahead of a scheduled Apex Committee meeting, which he attended as the K-P chief minister. Because of his meeting with Imran, which lasted one and a half hours, the hearing of the £190 million case was delayed.

"Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur and PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar held an extraordinary meeting with Imran Khan in the Adiala Jail," Aleema Khan told reporters outside the Jail, while giving inside details of the meeting.

"During the meeting, Barrister Gohar and Ali Amin Gandapur sought permission from Imran Khan to negotiate with the establishment. Khan has given them until Thursday for the talks. If the negotiations succeed, the November 24 protest will transform into a celebration," she said.

She also said that the PTI founder's bail application in the Toshakhana-II reference case was fixed for Wednesday (today), adding that if he got the bail in the case, then he would himself lead the protest on Sunday [November 24].

She said that Sunday was important for the country, adding that Imran gave call to the masses only twice, on the election day on February 8 and now for November 24. She said that the people came out on February 8 to vote for the PTI ideology, now they should come out to protect that ideology.

"The last election based on ideology was held in 1970 and the second one was held on February 8, 2024. The struggle for the ideology does not end quickly. Peaceful protest is your constitutional right," Aleema Khan told reporters.

Earlier, Gandapur and Barrister Gohar reached Adiala Jail ahead of schedule with full official protocol of the chief minister. The police, however, did not allow the protocol to proceed further. Later, Barrister Gohar went inside the jail in Gandapur's car.

For the meeting, the PTI founder was shifted from his jail cell to a conference room, where he met with the two senior party leaders. They held detailed discussion on Gandapur's participation in the Apex Committee meeting, November 24 protest, talks with the government, Imran's cases and other issues.

Chief Minister Gandapur and Barrister Gohar briefed the PTI founder about the preparations for Sunday's protest. According to Aleema Khan, the PTI founder stated that political parties always keep their doors open for dialogue.

She lamented that those who stood by the party ideology were in jail, while some others took the easy way out. "Dr Yasmin Rashid, Ejaz Chaudhry, Mahmoodur Rashid are still in jail, while Andaleeb Abbas took the easy way out," she said. "The ideological workers always take stand for what is right."

Speaking about the party's planned protest on Sunday, Aleema Khan said that PTI workers and supporters would start arriving in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi on Friday. She invited the people to the protest, saying: "The people of Rawalpindi and Islamabad will welcome you."

According to jail sources, the meeting ended around 12:30pm, after which Chief Minister Gandapur left Adiala Jail with his protocol. During the meeting, Accountability Court Judge Nasir Javed Rana waited in his chamber. The court proceedings started after the meeting, the sources added.