PTI claims gaining direct access to COAS
The beleaguered Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) claims to have finally found the lost key and cracked the door open for an audience with Chief of Army Staff General (COAS) Syed Asim Munira much-desired breakthrough that the party's founder Imran Khan had been seeking for a long time to resuscitate his sagging political fortunes, at least two confidantes of the jailed former premier confirmed on Thursday, while the government denied any such development.
Amid frequent chiding by the government side that the PTI was free to hold talks with the powerful stakeholders if it can, the PTI's constant banging on the door was finally answered as PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur recently met with the army chief in Peshawar and poured their hearts out before him.
To cement the foundation for talks further, the incarcerated PTI founding chairman has not only welcomed the direct contact with the army chief but declared it essential for bringing in political stability in the country, which is grappling with political and economic challenges for long.
However, the government side was quick to deny the meeting, with Senator Irfan Siddiqui saying the meeting being referred to was specifically convened to discuss the security situation. When specifically asked to confirm if the COAS had a separate meeting with the PTI leaders after the security meeting, the senator said "No", adding "No such exclusive meeting".
Commenting on the security-related meeting, Senator Siddiqui said that "I can state with full authority that during this meeting, Barrister Ali Gohar and AAG [Ali Amin Gandapur] attempted to introduce political discussions and demands. However, they were explicitly told that this meeting was strictly about security and had nothing to do with politics."
Senator Siddiqui, who is also the spokesperson of the government's negotiation committee currently holding talks with PTI in parliament, said that the PTI leaders were told in the security-related meeting that they should discuss political matters at the appropriate forum if they wish to but "not here". "I stand by this statement with full authority, and anyone is free to verify or refute it from any source they choose," he concluded.
The claim that the PTI leaders had a meeting with the army chief has come at a time when the PML-N-led ruling coalition is busy holding talks with the opposition PTI to settle thorny issues between the two sides. Specifically, Khan and Gohar have disclosed the details about the PTI-COAS meeting just before the third round of talks between the government and opposition committees where the PTI finally presented its charter of demands to the other side.
The details about the PTI leaders' direct meeting with the COAS surfaced after Barrister Gohar confirmed to the media outside Adiala Jail in the garrison city that he along with the K-P chief minister had a meeting with the military chief the other day, saying he was disclosing the details now with the permission and on the instructions of party supremo.
In fact, the incumbent PTI chief said that Khan himself told the journalists covering his trial proceedings that his party's chairman had a crucial meeting with someone somewhere the other daythe day when the army chief visited the provincial capital in connection with security-related issues.
Sharing details about the meeting, Barrister Gohar said that he met Khan inside the jail where Khan disclosed to the journalists about his party officials' first direct meeting with the army chief, saying he himself reveals details about anything only when he gets explicit instructions from Khan.
"The PTI founding chairman has welcomed this meeting, saying it is very important for the stability of the country," Gohar quoted Khan as saying during their early Thursday morning meeting. Barrister Gohar attributed to Khan as saying that his party's doors were always opened for negotiations but the others had locked the doors, saying if the talks have finally begun then the same is better for stability.
He reiterated the PTI's demands: constitute judicial commission to investigate May 9 and November 26 incidents; and release political prisoners, including Imran Khan. "Me and Ali Amin Gandapur met army chief," Gohar reportedly said, adding the meeting took place in Peshawar where "we have placed our entire matter before the army chief."
Gohar termed the initiation of talks with army chief a positive development, the reports added, saying all the demands were presented to him. The development amid government-PTI talks has stirred the political scene to the extent that everything else has taken a back seat for now.
Nonetheless, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar maintained his arduous track record of not sharing anything on key developments. When approached for a version, the government's spokesperson didn't share anything on the PTI-COAS meeting till the filing of the story.