Minister of State for Law and Justice Barrister Aqeel Malik has said he expects negotiations between the PTI and the government to start in a few days, but Imran Khan’s release from jail would not be part of the discussion.
Since Imran’s incarceration last year in several cases, PTI’s relations with the government and the establishment have deteriorated sharply. Last year in November, protests by the party had escalated into violence amid state repression.
Subsequently, in December last year, Imran Khan had formed a five-member committee to hold talks with “anyone”, prompting Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to set up a counterpart panel. Despite several rounds, however, the talks ended abruptly and without results. Ties have been further strained after several PTI leaders’ recent convictions in May 9 cases.
In an interview on DawnNews TV programme Doosra Rukh, aired on Tuesday night, the minister said that he saw negotiations “starting in a few days”.
“PTI leaders have contacted us as well as other leadership, and are convincing us that negotiations should open up again,” he said, adding that the opposition was also in consensus that they wanted “some pathway out” after the sentencing and disqualifications of PTI leadership in the wake of the May 9 riots.
He said that the negotiations would be held between the PTI’s team and a committee formed by the Speaker of the National Assembly, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq.
He stressed, however, that these negotiations would not include a discussion on Imran’s release, as this was “not in the government’s power”.
“We have told them a dozen times to take the route of the courts, to prove his innocence in court,” he said. “His release is only possible that way. The government cannot provide him freedom or release in any way.”
He added that if there was any issue that party members wanted to discuss; if they wanted to talk about “political space or political issues”, such discussions would be welcome.
Malik also said that the PTI would have to “convince” them as to the necessity of forming a judicial commission for an investigation into May 9 at the current stage in the proceedings, as many cases had already been decided.
“If they have a convincing argument, then they can bring it to that session and convince us,” he said, adding that the evidence already provided in these cases was already admissible and had been taken into account in the trial stages.
Imran, imprisoned since August 2023, is serving a sentence at the Adiala Jail in a £190 million corruption case and also faces pending trials under the Anti-Terrorism Act related to the protests of May 9. In July, he filed an appeal in the Supreme Court after being denied bail by lower courts. That appeal has yet to be decided, with the hearing put off again today.
Earlier this month, PTI’s Opposition Leader in the National Assembly, Omar Ayub Khan, and Opposition Leader in the Senate, Shibli Faraz, were removed from their seats after being convicted in May 9 cases by the Election Commission of Pakistan. Sunni Ittehad Council chief Hamid Raza, and other PTI lawmakers were similarly disqualified from their seats following their convictions in cases related to the riots.