PTI's ultimatum enters final hours

Imran reiterates call for civil disobedience

ISLAMABAD:

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)'s ultimatum to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)-led federal government has entered its final hours, with the party warning that a civil disobedience movement will commence if PTI-government talks fail to begin by Sunday.

On one hand, jailed PTI founding chairman reiterated that the call was still on, directing the party leadership to gear up for first phase of the movement. On the other hand, incumbent PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar remains cautiously optimistic, revealing that the National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq has assured him of forming a committee to facilitate negotiations.

Confirming a contact between the PTI chairman and NA speaker, sources in the government revealed that the speaker has told Gohar that he would approach Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and request to form a committee for talks with PTI leadership. They said Barrister Gohar approached the NA speaker and asked him to play his role as the custodian of the house. To this, they added, the speaker replied in affirmative but didn't commit anything.

"The call for civil disobedience is still on," PTI's Secretary Information Sheikh Waqas Akram told The Express Tribune, "The deadline ends on Sunday and then, as per Khan Sahib's direction, the party will begin the first phase of the civil disobedience movement." To the question about next phases, the PTI spokesperson said, the civil disobedience movement can continue in several ways, saying phase two and three of the movement were also being considered.

To a question if Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi discussed about it in their meeting on Friday, Akram said that the meeting was strictly on the issue of Kurram incident and no political issues were discussed in it. He said that Imran Khan had conveyed to the party to wait for a response from the government until Sunday, saying the party should proceed with its plan to begin civil disobedience movement if no progress is made by then.

Earlier, PTI leader and NA opposition leader Omar Ayub accused the government of not being serious about negotiations, claiming that the authorities blocked the negotiation team from meeting former Imran Khan at Adiala Jail. Speaking to the media after appearing in an Islamabad district session court, Ayub expressed frustration over the lack of access to Khan, stating that the government's actions show no real intent to engage in meaningful dialogue.

Ayub pointed out that although Imran Khan had formed a negotiation team to initiate talks, the government had not allowed them to meet him in jail, thus rendering the efforts futile. "No one should claim that talks weren't attempted," said Ayub, suggesting that the government's refusal to facilitate access to Khan undermined any potential for dialogue.

Meanwhile, Imran Khan's sister Aleema Khan while talking to journalists outside Adiala jail said that there had been no indication so far that the government was serious to discuss about PTI's demands, saying her brother has given an indication for starting the movement if the government doesn't commence talks by Sunday.