To talk or not to talk: PM's offer lays bare PTI divide

The beleaguered PTI appears divided on how to respond to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's offer of talks, with the party chairman adopting a conciliatory tone and the secretary-general laying down preconditions.

On Tuesday, the PTI leaders and Imran Khan's family members were once again denied permission to meet the incarcerated PTI founder at Adiala Jail — leading to a sot-in protest.

Talking to reporters, PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan said not only outsiders but also "people from within" were complicit in forcing them to "beg" authorities for a meeting with the PTI founder.

"No matter how intense a street movement becomes, there is no alternative to dialogue," he said, adding that there were no instructions from Imran to halt negotiations.

On December 28, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and PTI Secretary-General Salman Akram Raja told journalists that the PTI would move toward dialogue with the government only after securing a "level playing field" through sustained street protests.

They had rejected the notion of entering talks from "a position of weakness".

Talking with reference to the statement, Gohar said CM Afridi's visit to Lahore was not based on party consultation but was carried out on the explicit directions of the PTI founder.

He said every Tuesday they come to Adiala Jail to seek a meeting, but after waiting until the designated time, they are forced to return. "I appeal to those in power to show some mercy toward the country. The system has come to a standstill just to stop us," he said.

Gohar said while a ceasefire was reached with external enemies, internal political tensions continued unabated. He feared that 2026 might also turn out to be a year of punishments.

He reiterated that PTI has never called off negotiations and that he has received no directive from the party founder instructing that talks should end.

He confirmed that instructions regarding the street movement had been issued and emphasized that protest is their constitutional right. Sohail Afridi, he said, has been assigned responsibility for the street movement on the founder's instructions, and the party fully supports him.

He added that opposition parties' alliance chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai and Senator Allama Nasir Abbas Raja have been authorized to conduct negotiations.

He warned that if political coldness continued, the country would not emerge from the crisis, urging all sides to shed their egos and make space for one another.

Speaking to the media near the Factory checkpoint close to Adiala Jail, Salman Akram Raja said Mahmood Khan Achakzai had clearly stated that breaking into someone's house, looting it, and then calling for talks was meaningless.

He said meaningful negotiations would only be possible once the government restored meetings with the PTI founder. He recalled that negotiations were also held in December 2024 and January 2025, but no progress was made beyond symbolic engagement.

"If the government was sincere, he said, it must facilitate meetings with the party founder," he said.

Raja rejected the use of the word "begging" for negotiations, clarifying that PTI would not beg.

He questioned under what principle the PTI founder had been placed in solitary confinement, reiterating that talks without access to the founder would legitimize injustice.

He said PTI leaders would continue coming to Adiala Road to awaken the conscience of the state, even though they knew meetings would not be allowed.

Earlier authorities did not allow any party leader and sisters of Imran Khan to meet the former prime minister despite the scheduled day for meetings.

The PTI founder's sisters — Aleema Khan, Noreen Niazi, and Dr Uzma Khan — arrived late due to fog on the motorway, after the meeting time had ended, and were stopped by police at the Factory checkpoint.

Led by the founder's sisters, PTI staged a sit-in on Adiala Road that continued late into the night. A large number of women workers also participated.

Police sealed all routes leading to Adiala Jail with heavy deployment. They closed business centres, petrol pumps, shops, and markets, causing severe inconvenience to residents of surrounding areas.