ISLAMABAD:
Talks between the PTI and the ruling PML-N will continue despite the conviction of PTI founder Imran Khan and his wife in a corruption case, PTI Chairman Ali Gohar Khan announced on Friday.
“[Talks] will not be aborted because of this [judgment]” Gohar quoted Imran as saying shortly after an accountability court sentenced the former prime minister to 14 years in prison in the £190 million Al-Qadir Trust corruption case.
He said talks with the government would continue and the PTI would wait to see if the government constituted judicial commissions into the May 9 and November 26 incidents.
Imran said talks with the government will continue, but if there is no progress within the seven-day deadline given to the other side, there will be no further talks, he added.
“The PTI has submitted its charter of demands and will wait to see how the government responds to the demands,” Gohar said.
He said that Imran Khan is in good spirits and does not fear condemnation. The ruling handed down in the Al-Qadir case will soon be annulled by the higher judiciary, he said.
The PTI chairman recalled that Imran has been constantly telling the higher judiciary that people do not get justice from the lower courts and this leads to destroying the trust of nations in the judiciary.
Gohar said that nations are destroyed when there is no justice in the society. Asking people not to lose hope, he said justice will be served soon.
Talks between the government and the PTI began on December 23 and both sides have so far held three rounds of talks to discuss thorny issues and find solutions that can bring political and economic stability to the country.
When asked if the backdoor channel was still being used for talks, Gohar, hesitating for a second, said, “This is the channel that will continue.”
The third round of talks was apparently initially delayed until a verdict in the £190 million corruption case was announced, as the government side continued to demand a letter of demands from the PTI while the PTI continued to insist that it would only present its demands after his negotiators were allowed to meet Imran Khan in jail to finalize the same.
Surprisingly, the sentencing announcement was postponed three times as talks dragged on for a third week without any progress.
However, the PTI negotiation committee was eventually allowed to meet Imran Khan in jail to discuss their demands and present them to the government.
After the meeting, the PTI negotiation committee presented its demands to the ruling coalition committee. The demands that Khan’s party conveyed in writing to the government during its third round include judicial investigations into the events of May 9, 2023 and November 26, 2024, as well as the release of “political prisoners.”
In addition to the judicial commissions, the PTI and its allies have sought the support of the federal and provincial governments for bail, suspension of sentences and acquittal of “political prisoners” identified by the party.
