- No need for talks between top five figures, says Gohar.
- Barrister Zafar urges suitable atmosphere for dialogue.
- Will accept whoever opposition nominates for talks: Asif.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan on Tuesday rejected the federal government’s proposal for a meeting involving the country’s “top five figures” to resolve the ongoing political crisis.
The PTI chairman made the remarks while commenting on a statement by Prime Minister’s Adviser on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah, who had stressed the need for trust-building and sustained contact among Pakistan’s top five figures.
The senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader, last week, had said that no political breakthrough would be possible without confidence-building measures at the highest level.
Talking to the media at Dahgal checkpoint near Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi today, the PTI chairman said: “If negotiations have reached the stage of involving the country’s top five figures, it should be taken as a clear ‘no’.”
“Neither can the top five big players meet, nor is there any need for it,” he added.
Gohar said that PTI had never called off negotiations, but questioned the logic of talks between the top five players.
The PTI chairman questioned how talks among the top five leaders could proceed if they were denied a meeting with PTI founder Imran Khan.
“We come every Tuesday and leave without meeting [PTI founder],” he added.
Khan, who has been in jail since August 2023, faces multiple cases ranging from corruption to terrorism since his ouster from power via the opposition’s no-trust motion in April 2022.
Gohar said their meetings with the incarcerated PTI founder had been deliberately made controversial, adding that no one had met the former premier for more than a month.
PTI Secretary General Barrister Salman Akram Raja urged the PML-N-led federal government to clarify its proposal for talks between the country’s top five figures.
Speaking to the media at the Factory checkpoint, he said that no dialogue could move forward without the PTI founder’s participation, adding that the results would be zero if four or five people sat together.
Meanwhile, PTI’s Barrister Ali Zafar said the environment did not appear “conducive to negotiations”.
He alleged that cases were being lodged against their leadership and workers were being subjected to torture.
The PTI leader urged the government to create a suitable atmosphere for the negotiations.
‘No progress on serious talks’
Separately, PML-N Senator Sanaullah warned that the PTI and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government would face the consequences if the PTI founder continued his policy of confrontation with the state.
He said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had extended the dialogue offer to PTI after consulting the establishment and PML-N President Nawaz Sharif.
Responding to a question, Sanaullah said: “If we look at the past behaviour of the PTI founder, he has never been ready for talks.”
To another query, he said there would be no obstacle to meeting the PTI founder if the party complied with the Islamabad High Court’s orders.
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said that discussions on negotiations were limited to press statements only, adding that no progress has been made on serious negotiations.
Speaking outside the Parliament House, he said that the government had no objection to Mahmood Khan Achakzai or any other person leading negotiations on behalf of the opposition.
“We will accept whoever the opposition nominates. If the opposition chooses Achakzai, then give the name.”
