ISLAMABAD, DEC 9 /DNA/ – Just days before the Imran Khan-founded PTI’s proposed civil disobedience movement, the former ruling party has announced that it is ready for dialogue, be it with humans or ‘farishtay’ (angels) — a tacit reference to the establishment.
Apparently diverging from the former ruling party’s previous stance, PTI senior leader Omar Ayub Khan explained his party’s fresh negotiation policy, saying: “We are ready for talks, be it with humans or farishtay [angels].”
Previously, the Imran Khan-founded was of the view that they would hold talks only with the military establishment instead of the government.
Last week, the incarcerated PTI founder warned the government of launching a “civil disobedience” movement if his demands, including the judicial probe into the crackdown on party supporters, are not met.
Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Imran — who claimed to have a “trump card” — announced the constitution of a five-member negotiation committee comprising Omar Ayub, CM Gandapur, Sahibzada Hamid Raza, Salman Akram Raja and Asad Qaiser.
The committee, he said, would negotiate with the federal government on two points — the release of “political prisoners” facing trial and the constitution of a judicial commission to probe the events of May 9, 2023 and a late-night crackdown on PTI protesters on November 26.
“If these two demands are not accepted, a civil disobedience movement will be launched from December 14,” the jailed former premier said, adding that the government would be responsible for the results of this movement.
During today’s presser, Ayub slammed the incumbent government saying: “A national government is not the solution to the problems being faced by the country.”
He stressed the need to uphold the rule of law and justice to steer the country out of the crisis. “At present, there is only fascism and baton [in the country].”
For his part, Senate opposition leader Shibli Faraz termed the coalition government in the Centre a “fake regime” saying they wanted to engage the PTI leadership in “fake cases”.
Hundreds of cases have been lodged against the PTI top leadership, including the party founder, in connection with the May 9 violence last year and the do-or-die protest in Islamabad last month.
Speaking on the occasion, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan reiterated the claim that 12 of their supporters were killed during their protest in Islamabad last month.
However, the government has categorically denied the PTI’s claim of workers deaths during the crackdown, stating that live ammunition was not used against the protesters and four law enforcers including three Rangers personnel and a policeman were martyred during the protest that was launched by the PTI.
The party sources, however, said that the majority of the PTI leaders were against the immediate launch of the civil disobedience move.
As the party leadership is not on the same page over the matter, the former ruling party has decided to devise a clear strategy over the matter ahead of December 14.
The PTI founder would be asked to postpone the civil disobedience calls for few days as the Khan-founded party wanted to recover from the November 24 fiasco, the sources added.
