ISLAMABAD/PESHAWAR: The PTI declared that it would submit its written requests in the third round of negotiations, meaning that its attempts to meet with Imran Khan on Thursday were unsuccessful.
In an attempt to defuse political tensions, the government and PTI began talks in the final week of December. However, in spite of weeks of conversations, the two main concerns of the dialogue process—the creation of a judicial panel and the release of PTI prisoners—have not advanced much.
Faisal Chaudhry, a PTI lawyer, told Dawn on Thursday that he was asked to approach the Adiala administration in order to set up a meeting between the PTI negotiation team and the former premier. However, the jail authorities refused to let them meet Mr. Khan, despite his efforts throughout the day.
PTI spokesperson Sheikh Waqqas Akram called on the government to demonstrate its commitment to the dialogue by establishing a judicial commission to look into the crackdowns on May 9 and November 26 during a separate press conference held at the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Department in Peshawar.
According to the PTI senior, their first desire was to have access to the PTI head since they needed to confer with him about the conversation. He asserted, “It has been three and a half months since we were unable to reach Imran.”
Regarding a recent meeting with the PTI leader, he stated that the party sought access to the founder for a thorough meeting because there were significant matters to discuss and that their prior encounters with him had not been thorough. A meeting in a tiny space, according to Mr. Akram, was not “proper access.”
He claimed that in spite of this, the PTI founder was sincere and permitted his party’s interlocutors to submit written demands during the third stage of negotiations with the government. “We have been denied our fundamental right, which is to meet with Imran Khan,” he asserted.
PTI leader Omar Ayub said their meeting was being watched and sought “unmonitored” access to the former premier a day earlier. But according to the authorities, such a meeting was prohibited by jail regulations. Mr. Akram claims that in order to put an end to the Sangjani demonstration, the administration opened the jail doors at 7 a.m. Regarding that meeting, he remarked, “What jail manual allowed this?”
He also criticized the PML-N-led Punjab government, questioning how it would handle his party’s other demands if it was unable to organize such a conference. He stated that one of the most important demands that would aid in the negotiation process was the creation of a judicial committee.
Mr. Akram claimed that Imran Khan had been detained in a “death cell” and accused the government of lying about the facilities offered to the PTI founder when he was incarcerated. In addition, he asserted that Mr. Khan was denied access to a newspaper and television, and that the jail administration was removing his reading materials.
The PTI spokesperson claimed that the party workers who had been held in the jails in Attock and Jhelum were being abused. He claimed that 40 inmates were housed in 10×10 cells and that the imprisoned laborers were not receiving any medical care.
