Talks only if assembly is dissolved: Imran

ISLAMABAD: Just a day after the government and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf put aside bitterness to finally hold talks, PTI Chairman Imran Khan Friday asked Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Fawad Chaudhry to talk only if the government wants to dissolve the assembly immediately and hold elections.

During a brief informal chat with reporters here on the occasion of his appearance in the Islamabad High Court, Imran emphasised that if elections are not held even on May 14, the Constitution will be torn apart.

“We have always accepted the decisions of the Supreme Court and we are standing with the Constitution. There is no comparison between the PDM and us,” he said. “I have been saying from the first day that I can negotiate on the date of election.”

In the presence of PTI leaders Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Fawad Chaudhry, who are the party’s three-member committee that began talks with the government side at the Parliament House Thursday and was to hold more talks on Friday afternoon, Imran said he was telling both of them if they talked about the same September-October election again, there was no need for talks.

The PTI chairman said that “Dirty Harry tried to kill me twice, if I talk about Dirty Harry, then cases are made against me”.

Earlier, when he reached the court, journalists bombarded the PTI chief with questions like negotiating with ‘thieves’, but he parried all these questions and entered the office without answering any of them.

However, later in an informal conversation, Imran said, “We are following the law, they (rulers) are breaking the law. Negotiations are done by the same people but they and we are not the same; they do not follow the Constitution.” Referring to the present government, Imran alleged that they abolished the Constitution while “we followed the Constitution and the decisions of the Supreme Court”. “Thanks to General (R) Qamar Javed Bajwa, who imposed them (people) on us, Bajwa himself says that Imran Khan is dangerous,” the PTI chairman remarked.

Referring to the date given by the Supreme Court for the elections in Punjab, the PTI chairman said that if the date of May 14 passes, the Constitution will be torn apart.

About the recent reports in relation to Kashmir issue’s settlement, he contended that he knew much more than that but it was a matter of national security and he did not want to make an international news, which may harm the country.

Meanwhile, PTI Secretary General Asad Umar took to his Twitter account to write, “What is the real reason why the 13-party government alliance did not give money for elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa”.

He said the real reason for not giving Rs21 billion by the government for holding the elections is that the PDM is facing an acute shortage of ‘votes’ and not ‘notes’. “The government says there are no Rs21 billion to hold elections while the truth of PDM’s claims is being told by the government figures themselves. The first eight months of the current financial year, the government has approved the expenditure of Rs515 billion which was not in the budget. Out of these Rs515 billion, Rs349 billion has been changed and Rs166 billion is included in the form of additional grant,” he claimed.

“Thus, it was proved that the real problem for the ruling coalition is lack of votes and not notes,” he said.

Earlier, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Friday got an interim bail from the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in case of inciting a mutiny against the surety bond of Rs0.1 million with the instruction to become a part of the investigation.

The IHC ordered the former prime minister to ensure his appearance in every proceeding. The IHC also sought arguments on whether only the IHC could grant permanent bail to Imran Khan. In this regard, the court served notices on the police and the Federation to submit their response by May 3.

During the hearing, Imran Khan’s counsel Barrister Salman Safdar and Faisal Chaudhary told the court that the Registrar’s Office had several objections.

Advocate General Islamabad Jahangir Jadoon said the Islamabad Katcheri is being shifted to the Judicial Complex and as soon as a petition is filed, it will be set for hearing. IHC CJ Justice Aamir Farooq remarked that the petitioner, being a resident of Pakistan, had the right to be granted bail.

PTI chief Imran Khan reached the IHC seeking bail in a case pertaining to making allegations against top officers of the state institutions and inciting mutiny. On April 6, Manzoor Ahmed Khan, a magistrate, filed an FIR at the city’s Ramna police station against Imran for “spreading hatred between the institutions and the public” and for “trying to cause unforgivable damage to the institutions and their top officers”.

Former prime minister Imran Khan was accused of multiple offenses in an FIR filed against him under sections 138, 500, and 505 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). The FIR alleged that during a speech from Zaman Park Lahore on March 19, which was broadcast on a private TV channel, Imran made various allegations against a senior officer of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and committed “character assassination”.

It also mentioned other speeches made by Imran on October 28 and 29 and November 4 and 11, 2022, in which he allegedly used inappropriate language for the ISI and army officials, threatened the families of senior officers and provoked extremists, putting the lives of a senior officer’s family at risk.

The complainant further alleged that Imran’s statements damaged the army’s reputation and resulted in foreign agencies taking advantage of the situation, attacking Imran and attempting to create a rift between the public and the army. The FIR claimed that the purpose of Imran’s speeches was to “conspire to make soldiers revolt against their oath and officers,” utilising Twitter and other social media platforms to this end.

Furthermore, the FIR alleged that through his speeches, the former premier “attempted to create an atmosphere among top army officers and other soldiers where they would not listen to their officers’ commands.”