Summary PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja said reconciliation with the government cannot move forward without Imran Khan, citing his access and the KP counterterrorism strategy as key issues.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Secretary General Salman Akram Raja has said the party will not make any decision without its incarcerated founder Imran Khan, maintaining that reconciliation with the government cannot move forward without his involvement in the dialogue process.
Addressing a press conference alongside PTI lawyers at Khyber Pakhtunkhwa House in Islamabad, Raja said two rounds of negotiations with the government were held over the weekend but ended without a breakthrough. He said PTI had entered the talks with sincerity and was serious about resolving the issues through dialogue.
Raja said the party had two major demands, with the first being a meeting with Imran Khan. He stressed that PTI would not make any decision without consulting its founder, saying the party had the right to seek his opinion but was not allowed to meet him.
“Only Imran has the capability to bridge the gulf that has developed between the state and the nation,” Raja said, adding that Imran Khan was extremely important to the party and his opinion was required on all major issues.
He said PTI had demanded immediate access to Imran Khan for consultation and was even willing to set aside other demands for the purpose. According to Raja, the government had assured the party that if an agreement was reached, lawyers and Imran Khan’s sisters would be allowed to meet him on Tuesday, while meetings would subsequently be restored.
Raja said another major reason for the failure of negotiations was the disagreement over the strategy to eliminate terrorism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He said the PTI had demanded that the recommendations of a political jirga convened by the KP Assembly be considered, as political parties and other stakeholders had participated in it.
He said the jirga had proposed solutions to address terrorism and the PTI delegation had asked the government to consider the views of tribal leaders as well. Raja said the party had proposed that the agreement clearly state that a collective decision would be taken on counterterrorism measures.
According to Raja, however, the government was unwilling to put a unanimous strategy against terrorism in writing. He said PTI was being pushed to support every government action concerning terrorism in KP, while the party wanted a collective approach to be agreed upon.
Raja said the negotiating sides had gradually made progress on several points and discussions continued for hours. He claimed Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi left the meeting several times and said several issues had been agreed upon by around 8pm. However, the sides later failed to reach agreement on access to Imran Khan’s personal doctors, with discussions continuing until around 2am.
He said the issue of a 72-hour timeframe for implementation of the proposed agreement was also discussed. Raja added that discussions on the release of prisoners had also progressed positively, including the release of elderly and female prisoners.
The PTI secretary general said these developments had created an impression that the negotiations were close to success, but the talks ultimately broke down over access to Imran Khan’s doctors and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa counterterrorism issue.
Raja said PTI wanted the political parties’ jirga to be heard and maintained that rejecting its recommendations would not be a wise decision. He said the party would present documents of the peace jirga carrying signatures of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Awami National Party and other political parties.
He said the party was still calling for differences not to be turned into confrontation, adding that the two sides had been close to resolving the matters before the situation changed. According to Raja, the government committee ultimately said it would not provide access to Imran Khan’s personal doctors and would not work on a mutually agreed course of action.
The PTI leader said the party remained committed to its political struggle and would support KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, who is leading the long march. He said any decision concerning Khyber Pakhtunkhwa should be taken through consultation with all stakeholders.
The two rounds of government-opposition talks held on Friday and Saturday ended without a positive outcome, with access to Imran Khan and counterterrorism policy in KP emerging as the major points of disagreement.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi later blamed KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi for the failure of the negotiations, saying he had changed the agreement. Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, meanwhile, said PTI representatives had participated in the talks but were unwilling to abandon what he described as their “double standards and hypocrisy.”
Separately, Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Amir Muqam said the government delegation had proposed that both sides should adopt a common position on terrorism.
Following the failure of the talks, PTI proceeded with its protest march on Sunday despite warnings from the federal government. The government had warned of possible action against the PTI-led KP government, including governor’s rule or an emergency, if the party proceeded with the march.
Meanwhile, speaking to the media at the Islamabad High Court, Imran Khan’s lawyer Barrister Salman Safdar said Supreme Court judgments had not been implemented and claimed that several Islamabad High Court decisions had also not been followed.
Barrister Salman Safdar said reaching the Islamabad High Court had become extremely difficult and urged the court’s fixation branch to schedule the case, particularly amid the prevailing political tensions.
