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PTI Chairman Advocate Gohar Khan. PHOTO: TWITTER
PTI president Advocate Gohar Ali Khan on Wednesday urged the government to hold “unconditional” talks with the opposition, saying there should be no conditions in dialogue between political parties.
Speaking to the media, Gohar said it was wrong to say that negotiations would only be held on specific issues.
“It is wrong to say that negotiations will be held on this issue, but this issue cannot be included in the negotiations,” he said.
“If you want to dialogue, you have to talk about all the issues,” he said. At the same time, the PTI president said he had no authority to negotiate with the government.
He said Mahmood Khan Achakzai and Allama Raja Nasir Abbas, recently appointed opposition leaders in the National Assembly and Senate respectively, had been given authority to hold talks with the government.
“I’ll give you my query if you need it,” Gohar said. He further said that if the government wants to “shake hands” with the opposition, it should do so with both hands.
“The carrot and stick policy doesn’t work. [Throwing] punching with one hand and extending the other doesn’t work,” he said.
Gohar also said that PTI founder Imran was facing a multitude of cases and added that the former prime minister’s lawyers should be allowed to meet him.
He said a PTI delegation had met National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq and highlighted the fact that no meetings with Imran were allowed.
On the other hand, the PTI rejected the approval of the Electoral (Amendment) Bill, 2026 by the National Assembly, calling it a “direct attack” on the fundamental principles of the right to information, transparency and accountability.
“This bill gives MPs the ability to hide details of their assets from the public under the vague and undefined guise of ‘security concerns’, essentially providing a legal shield for the current ruling class,” the party said in a statement.
“These laws do not strengthen democracy; on the contrary, they weaken it and seriously undermine public trust in government,” he said.
The PTI alleged that parties claiming to defend democracy, transparency and parliamentary values were now legislating to “conceal ill-gotten wealth” they had accumulated through “corrupt practices and abuse of power”.
“The nation is well aware of the sources of its illicit wealth; it is the result of corruption, looting and abuse of authority,” he said.
“The public is fully informed and no law can hide the truth. This bill is an affront to the conscience of the people.
“These parties, which repeatedly preach about accountability, good governance and democratic values, are practically erecting walls of immunity and protection for themselves,” he said.
The PTI argued that such laws showed that some political parties did not represent the public but their own personal and class interests, and that the double standard was hollowing out Pakistan’s democratic system from within.
“If any member of parliament has genuine security concerns, the solution is not to hide assets, but for the government to ensure the protection of their life and property,” he said.
