Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan again expressed on Saturday his openness to hold talks, emphasising that any discussions must adhere to constitutional provisions.
"I will hold talks while staying within the Constitution," stated the former prime minister while addressing reporters at Adiala Jail, where he has been incarcerated for nearly a year.
Khan's remarks come amid his willingness to negotiate with the military, for which he has called on the institution to nominate a representative for discussions.
"We are ready to hold talks with the military. The army should nominate their representative [for negotiations]," he said during a recent case hearing at the Adiala facility.
The former ruling party's founder and other senior leaders, including Shah Mahmood Qureshi, along with numerous PTI workers, are embroiled in various cases related to the May 9 riots that erupted following Khan's arrest in a graft case last year. The riots resulted in the vandalism of military installations, including Rawalpindi's General Headquarters (GHQ) and Lahore's Corps Commander's House, triggering a nationwide crackdown against the PTI.
Since then, Khan has repeatedly expressed his preference to engage with the military rather than the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) led government.
This stance has provoked a strong response from the government, which has accused Khan of attempting to "politicize" the military while also extending an offer for PTI to come to the negotiation table. The party faces a potential ban, which, according to Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal, will be implemented once the institutions decide.
"The PTI should review their behaviour and seek apology from the [state] institutions and the masses [and then] maybe a way forward can emerge for them," noted the minister. He added that the incarcerated premier was inviting the military to intervene in politics while simultaneously claiming to advocate for civilian supremacy.
Imran Khan on Achakzai and Sher Afzal Marwat
On the subject of negotiations, Khan reiterated PTI's long-standing demand for their allegedly stolen mandate to be returned. He questioned how talks could proceed with the incumbent government, suggesting it would collapse if electoral results of even four constituencies were scrutinized.
Addressing claims that Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) Chairman and Tehreek-e-Tahafuz Ayeen-e-Pakistan (TTAP) chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai had refused to engage with the army, Khan clarified that he had tasked Achakzai with negotiating with political parties instead.
"Achakzai will only [hold] talk with political parties," he said.
When questioned about taking a U-turn on his earlier statement involving Achakzai in talks with the military, Khan took a jibe at the PML-N for abandoning its "vote ko izzat do" (respect the vote) narrative. "The biggest U-turn taken by a person is the one who demanded respect for the vote but instead, himself gave respect to the 'boot'," he remarked.
Regarding the termination of Sher Afzal Marwat's party membership, Khan initially refrained from commenting. When pressed, he said he would discuss the issue at another time.
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