Pak govt forms panel to negotiate with jailed ex-PM Imran Khan's party

The Shehbaz Sharif-led Pakistan government on Sunday formed a negotiation committee to start formal talks with jailed former prime minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party after it threatened to give a call for civil disobedience. 

According to a government statement, the committee includes Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, the prime minister's political aide Rana Sanaullah, Education Minister Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Minister for Privatisation Aleem Khan, Minister for Religious Affairs Chaudhry Salik Hussain and Senator Irfan Siddiqui among others. 

The PTI welcomed the formation of the government committee for negotiations, calling it a "positive step”. 

"We consider the committee's formation a constructive step. Meaningful dialogue based on positive intentions should be held," PTI chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said. 

He stressed that the potential talks should have a defined timeframe, adding that the dialogue must progress positively considering the sensitivity of the situation. 

National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq had taken the lead by offering on Wednesday that he was ready to host the two sides and facilitate their parleys. 

He welcomed the newly constituted committee and invited the government and opposition for talks, saying “the speaker's office is always open for members”, according to a statement issued by the NA Secretariat. 

The speaker called on members of both committees to meet on Monday morning, adding that he would meet them at his chambers in Parliament House. 

PTI spokesperson Sheikh Waqas Akram said his party accepted the speaker's invitation to meet. He said their committee will attend the meeting on Monday. 

Akram said the PTI founder will be informed about the progress of the meeting and he will decide whether to cancel the civil disobedience movement. 

The talks are being held after the PTI had threatened to give a call for civil disobedience. 

The party posted on X from the account of the jailed former prime minister regarding the call for civil disobedience movement, which was initially shared on December 19, stating that the campaign will be launched if the government doesn't make progress on the party's demands by Sunday. 

"I had presented two demands to the government, the release of under-trial political prisoners and the establishment of a judicial commission for a transparent investigation into the events of May 9, 2023 and November 26, 2024," the post quoted PTI founder Khan. It further stated that both of these demands "are legitimate". 

"If the government fails to take any action on them by Sunday, the first phase of the civil disobedience movement — 'remittance boycott' — will be launched,” it said. 

PTI spokesperson Sheikh Waqas Akram also reiterated that the civil disobedience drive would be launched tomorrow (Monday) if the party's demands go unmet. 

However, the issue of civil disobedience has been apparently put on hold for some time while allowing the two sides to address the differences through political means. 

Khan, 72, on December 5 had warned of a civil disobedience movement from December 14 if his demands about the release of political prisoners facing trial and the formation of a judicial commission to probe the events of May 9, 2023, and November 26 this year were unmet. 

Meanwhile, Pakistan's military courts sentenced 25 civilians to prison terms ranging from two to 10 years for attacking military installations during riots which erupted following the arrest of Khan in May last year, the Army announced on Saturday. 

On May 9, 2023, Khan's PTI supporters allegedly attacked several military installations, including the army headquarters in Rawalpindi and the ISI building in Faisalabad, to vent their anger against the arrest of their party founder in a corruption case. 

Hundreds of suspects were arrested in the countrywide swoop and at least 103 were handed over to the military authorities for trial due to their involvement in attacks on military installations. 

Khan's party has launched multiple protests through 2023 and 2024 demanding the release of their supreme leader, the latest being in November 2024. 

The former prime minister, currently lodged at the Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail, was arrested in August last year and faces multiple cases since his government was toppled in April 2022.

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