PTI to submit written demands to govt team: Barrister Gohar

ISLAMABAD, JAN 15 (DNA): Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan announced on Wednesday that his party would formally submit its demands in writing to the government’s negotiation team.

Speaking outside a sessions court in the federal capital, Barrister Gohar emphasised the importance of genuine dialogue and said: “The third session of our negotiations with the government will take place tomorrow [and] we will submit our written demands”.

“If the government engages with sincerity and seriousness, solutions to these issues can be found. Democracy and political stability require the release and relief of political prisoners [….] We hope this process will conclude soon and bring good news,” he remarked.

The PTI chief’s remarks come as the two sides — who have held two dialogue sessions on December 27, 2024, and January 2, 2025 — are set to meet again on Thursday (tomorrow) in the third round of talks summoned by National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq at 11:30am in the Parliament House.

The much-awaited development came after the former ruling party’s negotiation committee met incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan in Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail which paved the way for the third PTI-govt meeting which had seemingly hit a snag owing to the former’s inability to meet the ex-prime minister.

The PTI, which has demanded the release of political prisoners and the formation of a judicial commission for probing the May 9 riots and the November 26 protests, has set the January 31 time frame for the ongoing negotiations to reach a “logical conclusion” — something Adviser to the Prime Minister on Political and Public Affairs Rana Sanaullah has said that the former ruling party should extend to February 28.

The party, which finally secured Khan’s approval to continue talks with the government and present their demands in writing last week, has also warned that negotiations might collapse and a fourth round of talks was highly unlikely if a judicial commission was not formed after the third negotiation session.

Elaborating on the parleys with the government, Barrister Gohar expressed optimism regarding the dialogue process while lamenting that the PTI founder was targeted and was a political prisoner who “deserved” to be freed.

On the issue of PTI workers’ death in last year’s protest in November, the party chairman said that had earlier mentioned the tragic loss of 12 party members and injuries to 49 others in recent incidents, however, two more injured individuals had succumbed to their injuries, and their data would also be submitted to the court.

Govt to consult allies; no executive order

Speaking on Geo News’ programme “Geo Pakistan” today, PM’s aide Rana Sanaullah, who is also part of the government’s negotiation committee, stressed the significance of talks terming them a basic requirement of a democratic and political system.

On the issue of the release of those behind bars, Sanaullah questioned who the Khan-founded party considered political prisoners.

“Do these people have the status of political prisoners or have they committed any other crime?” he said while, adding that the party should provide a list of individuals it categorises as political prisoners.

“When PTI presents written demands, we will take them to the party and allies,” he said while speaking about the government’s response to the PTI’s demands.

“We will respond to PTI’s written demands after discussing them,” the politician remarked while adding that no one was talking about all-important terms of reference (TORs) — powers, time duration of its report — of the judicial commission sought by the PTI.

“All these things may take time,” noted the PM’s adviser whose view echoes the statement made by the spokesperson for the government negotiation team, Senator Irfan Siddiqui, who has said that consultations will be held with the seven coalition parties once the PTI had submitted its demands.

Expressing hope that the PTI would provide a list of its political prisoners along with conditions regarding the judicial commission, Sanaullah said that the government’s negotiation committee would respond to the opposition party’s demand in writing.

Meanwhile, the government has also ruled out an executive order for those involved in corruption and terrorist activities.

Speaking on the Senate floor on Tuesday, Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar informed the Upper House that the government could not release people involved in corruption and anti-terrorist acts through an executive order, as the Constitution of the country does not allow such actions.

The minister stated that only courts could set free individuals involved in corruption and anti-terrorist acts through the legal process.