Talks to be over if judicial panel not formed in 7 days: PTI

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan Monday announced that party founder chairman Imran Khan has said that there will be no fourth meeting, if the judicial commission not formed within seven days.

“We want to continue negotiations with the government, but our condition is that a judicial commission should be formed. Imran Khan has said that if the commission is not formed within seven days, there will be no fourth meeting,” he said while talking to the media outside the Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi.

Gohar said that they were waiting for the government to inform them (PTI committee) what progress they had made. If the commission was not going to be formed, then there would be no use in negotiations.

He claimed: “The government is panicking because it is a Form 47 government. The government should focus on negotiations. We believe that the success of negotiations is the success of Pakistan. I always say that we should focus on negotiations with patience and tolerance. To move things forward, we will have to work with patience instead of haste.”

To a question, he clarified that the meeting they had with Army Chief General Asim Munir was on the law and order situation, and the security situation should not be raised as an issue during the (committees’) meeting.

He contended that Irfan Siddiqui was the spokesperson of the government negotiation committee, so it was not appropriate for him to stall the negotiations. Regarding the US president’s swearing-in ceremony, he said that Donald Trump’s invitations for his swearing-in ceremony did not come at the official level. Donald Trump’s invitations are decided by his committee.

In response to PTI demand, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Senator and spokesperson for government’s negotiating committee Irfan Siddiqui, meanwhile, said the government committee had not finalised its response to PTI’s Charter of Demands.

In a, statement on ‘X’, Siddiqui refuted media reports claiming that the government committee had finalised its response to PTI’s Charter of Demands. The spokesperson dismissed the reports as baseless, clarifying that the seven-party committee was still engaged in mutual consultations and seeking guidance from their respective leaderships. He further stated that preparing a final response could take another week.

Meanwhile, speaking to the media outside Adiala Jail, Imran Khan’s lawyer Faisal Chaudhry said that the party founder has made it clear that the negotiation process had nothing to do with his cases.

Faisal Chaudhry said that the negotiations were taking place in the larger interest of the country and should reach a final conclusion. He quoted the party supremo saying that he did not want to ask for any concessions for his workers, just to be given the right to a fair trial.

Faisal added that Barrister Gohar and Salman Akram Raja would write a letter to the chief justice and the head of the Constitutional Bench on this count.

The lawyer said: “We condemn the blowing up of the administrative matters of the Supreme Court. Contempt of court action should be taken against the Additional Registrar and Election Commission members.

He contended that it seemed that the government committee was covering up its wrongdoings. If the demand of the judicial commission is not implemented, the negotiations cannot proceed.

He said that the party leaders would meet the founder in an open place on Thursday. Faisal Chaudhry revealed that defense lawyers in the Toshakhana case could not appear in court. He accused the government of fearing Imran Khan’s release, claiming their actions stem from guilt over alleged wrongful deaths of innocent people.

He criticized spokesperson Irfan Siddiqui for distrustful remarks against security institutions. Separately, Imran Khan’s sister Aleema Khan has said that the decision of the 190 million pound reference has become a joke all over the world. “You said that the government should take over Al-Qadir University; now Maryam Nawaz will earn some reward by running this institution,” she remarked.

In chat the reporters outside Adiala Jail, she quoted Imran Khan saying that he was given this sentence so that he would make a deal but he said that he would not make a deal and would face cases.

Aleema Khan said that the PTI founder said that this decision has nothing to do with the negotiation committee, and the case would be further revealed by going to the high court, adding that “you will hear all the names again”.

Meanwhile, talking to the media outside the Parliament House along with PTI party leaders, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Omar Ayub Khan claimed that a high court will soon reject the Al Qadir Trust case verdict against his party leader and his spouse.

He said the verdict, which he called a ‘receipt judgement’, had been written by different people. Omar Ayub also termed the Al-Qadir case a pack of lies and contended that Hassan Nawaz should be asked how he took Rs40 billion to the UK.

He pointed out that six months had passed and only 9.5 percent of funds under the Public Sector Development Programme had been spent. “What kind of government is this; what are Shehbaz Sharif and Ahsan Iqbal doing? They are sleeping while the economy has been destroyed,” he said.

Omar Ayub regretted that the internet was down and cases were being filed against the media and politicians. Speaking on the occasion, Barrister Gohar argued that the prosecution must present the case before the court without any doubt, adding that the 190 million pounds is not a case of corruption but of trust.

The party founder was accused of misuse of authority, he noted, and said the prosecution could not prove that he committed any corruption. He continued these were politically motivated cases against the founder.

Regarding the non-formation of the commission to probe into the casualties during the PTI Islamabad protest of Nov 26, he noted that the government was saying that the commission could not be formed, whereas the commission can be formed for any place and incident.

PTI lawmaker Zartaj Gul claimed Bushra Bibi was punished to pressurise the PTI founder. She alleged that since the PMLN had entered into politics, no one was safe from their evil while the Punjab government was currently in the hands of ‘TikTok’.

Senior PTI leader Asad Qaiser said that on Tuesday (today), the PTI founder and his wife would go to the Islamabad High Court to file an appeal against the Al-Qadir case verdict.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has appointed Law Minister Senator Azam Nazir Tarar and Adviser to Prime Minister on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah Khan as members of the special committee for negotiations with the opposition to formulate answer to its demands and clarify the constitutional and legal situation.

The allied parties have also been asked to nominate one member from their side today (Tuesday) so that the meeting of the special constitutional and legal committee can be held at the Parliament House tomorrow (Wednesday). A highly reliable source told Jang/The News here on Monday that the committee, headed by Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar, will reply in writing in response to the opposition’s demands by January 28. Observers opine that the future of the negotiations has not been very bright.