PTI demands ‘unfettered’ access to Imran, devoid of ‘monitoring’ – Pakistan

The PTI on Tuesday demanded that the government allow unhindered access to party founder Imran Khan for unguarded meetings amid ongoing talks to lower the political temperature.

Since Imran’s imprisonment last year, in several cases, the PTI’s relations with the government and establishment have deteriorated dramatically, marked by protests that frequently escalated into violence amid state repression.

Following the agitation, Imran set up a five-member committee to hold talks with “anyone”, signaling a change in the stance of PTI lawmakers in Parliament. In response, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also formed a committee with members of the ruling coalition.

The first meeting between the two parties took place on December 23, while the second took place on January 2. The two sides have so far failed to make significant progress as PTI leaders sought frequent meetings with Imran to finalize their list of demands. The government and opposition will meet again, possibly this week.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad today with other party leaders, PTI president Advocate Gohar Ali Khan said the party was “yet to receive any information about a scheduled meeting with Imran”.

He added that negotiations should not be delayed in this way.

Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, Omar Ayub Khan, said: “We raised a demand during our last meeting with the government to allow us to meet Imran Khan in an unsupervised and unrestricted manner, where there is no supervision of intelligence agencies”.

He said the current conditions of the Adiala jail ward where the meetings with Imran took place “were not conducive to free and open conversations”.

“The seriousness of the government towards the negotiations will be seen by allowing our meeting in an unrestricted environment by providing unlimited access to Imran because we will take our instructions from there.”

“Intelligence agencies interfere in the judicial process against the bail of our leaders and workers, from Islamabad High Court to sessions courts to anti-terrorism courts, this is a factual position,” Ayub added.

He reiterated the PTI’s demands for the release of the prosecuted political prisoners and the formation of a judicial commission to investigate the events of May 9, 2023 and November 26.

The PTI leader concluded that the only solution to the country’s problems was free and fair elections and reiterated the demand for unrestricted access to Imran.

Lawyer Gohar said the party’s call for civil disobedience and limiting remittances from overseas Pakistanis was still intact.

The dialogue between both parties has not experienced any significant progress so far. The main obstacles include the PTI negotiators’ lack of access to Imran and the PTI’s unwillingness to share its demands with the government in writing.

While awaiting a meeting with Imran to finalize their demands, the PTI has accused the federal government of not being “serious” in talks with the opposition party, alleging that statements coming from certain ministers may hamper the dialogue process.



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