Imran allows party to give demands in writing to govt team

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder chairman Imran Khan denounced the social media accounts doing propaganda related to Arab countries.

Talking to the media outside Adiala Jail on Wednesday, PTI lawyer Faisal Chaudhry quoted Imran clarifying that his party had no connection with the accounts.

Faisal explained that Imran had issued important instructions regarding the social media accounts with propaganda related to Bushra Bibi and martyrs. He quoted Imran saying that his cases were not on the agenda of negotiations. Imran said that Pakistan’s problems and the seriousness of the government’s negotiation team supported negotiations. He said that the PTI founder had formed a committee headed by Qazi Anwar to investigate the missing persons of November 24. The committee would complete its report by Sunday. Separately, talking to the media outside Adiala Jail, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said that the party’s founder chairman had directed to continue the negotiations with the government.

Gohar said that Imran had given permission to submit both demands in writing to the government committee.

Some party leaders, including Gohar, Barrister Ali Zafar and Sher Afzal Marwat, met their leader in the court room.

Gohar said that the PTI founder emphasised that there must be a third session for the talks, and if after that the party’s negotiation team did not meet him, then the talks would not be able to move forward.

He clarified that the PTI founder had already dispelled the impression of a deal.

Senator Ali Zafar, who is PTI’s parliamentary leader in the Senate, said that the negotiations would not continue if the meeting of the negotiation committee with Imran Khan was not held.

“Negotiations with the government cannot continue if the meeting is not held. The government has asked us for written demands. A meeting with the PTI founder is necessary before making the written demands,” he maintained.

In a chat with the journalists, Sher Afzal Marwat charged that some people abroad are using the PTI to earn dollars. He said that his party has shown flexibility by coming to the negotiation table, regretting that the PTI was being defamed by people like Adil Raja abroad.

Marwat said that some people abroad are causing disrepute to his party; these unfortunate people are doing misleading propaganda.

Strongly advocating the negotiation committee’s meeting with the party supremo, he emphasised that was is necessary to meet Imran for negotiations, pointing out that the high court had ordered to meet (him) without hindrance.

Marwat said that since the new superintendents had come, they had made Imran’s

life miserable. He alleged that the jail superintendent had not allowed him to meet the party founder. He announced to file a contempt of court plea against him and the assistant superintendent jail for disallowing him to see his leader.

Meanwhile, PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja said that there was a need for a politics that responds to accusations and dishonesty with dignity.

Issuing a statement on social media, he said that in the politics he aspires to wherein political opponents are not considered enemies.

The PTI leader said that mocking a woman’s character and body and resorting to false images was not politics.

Separately, talking to the media in the federal capital along with former National Assembly Speaker and senior PTI leader Asad Qaiser, Majlis Wahdatul Muslimeen (MWM) Chairman Senator Allama Raja Nasir Abbas said that the negotiations between the PTI and government committees were more important than the Simla Agreement. “I consider these negotiations more important than the Simla Agreement; this is a matter of the people, these negotiations are necessary for the integrity and survival of Pakistan,” he added.

He was of the view that the timing of these negotiations was very important as the rulers were frustrated.

The MWM senator contended that the judiciary should save the Constitution, a social contract, which is vital to keep the country united. “The decisions of the judiciary can be wrong or right, there are some decisions that harm nations. In the past, the judiciary recognised martial law, which harmed the country,” he noted.

Speaking on the occasion, Asad Qaiser emphasised that in any situation, the trials of civilians could not be held in military courts, regretting the sentences given to (party) workers by the military courts.

He said that he wanted to convey the voice of the people before the Supreme Court, as the rights of citizens in Pakistan are equal.

The PTI leader said that there was a deadlock in the negotiations because the committee was not allowed to meet the party founder. “If the government is serious, then we are also doing everything for the country. We want to make the negotiations successful for the sake of Pakistan,” he argued.

‘We can move forward only with the consultation of the founding chairman. We are serious about the negotiations and want meaningful negotiations. We want to meet the founder so that the consultations can be completed.”