- No further round of negotiations will take place: lawyer Gohar.
- Said PTI will launch the movement in collaboration with all parties.
- Faisal Vawda says PTI seems happy with its founder’s imprisonment.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan has called off negotiations with the government over his failure to establish a judicial commission within the seven-day deadline, says PTI chairman’s lawyer , Gohar Ali Khan.
Speaking to media outside Adiala jail in Rawalpindi, lawyer Gohar said the party’s legal team, including himself, had met Khan earlier in the day, who is behind the bars for over a year.
During the meeting, Khan expressed frustration over the delay, saying the government’s failure to act on the formation of a judicial commission leaves no reason for further negotiations.
“The PTI founder categorically announced that no further round of talks would take place,” Gohar said. “The government has made announcements but has not yet followed through, which is why Imran Khan has decided to end the negotiations.”
The development comes as negotiations between the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)-led government and the PTI began in late December in a bid to ease political tensions. However, weeks of talks – three sessions of which have taken place so far – have made little progress on key issues.
The party founded by Khan, in its written charter of demands presented to the government during the third session on January 16, had demanded the formation of two judicial commissions – mutually appointed by the PTI and the government within seven days – and the release of “political prisoners”.
The former ruling party’s demands to two judicial commissions related to an investigation into the riots of May 9, 2023 as well as the events of November 24-27, 2024, in relation to its protest in Islamabad.
Explaining the party’s stand, lawyer Gohar said the judicial commissions, if the government forms them, should consist of three senior judges from either the Supreme Court or the high courts.
“We will continue our struggle in accordance with the Constitution and law,” the PTI chairman said, adding that efforts would be made against an independent judiciary and against the 26th Amendment.
“We will launch a movement in collaboration with all political parties,” he added. Lawyer Gohar further conveyed Khan’s remarks, saying, “As of today, the commission was supposed to be announced, but it was not.”
He further quoted the PTI founder as saying, “We are not expecting help from any foreign country.”
The PTI’s announcement to end the dialogue process follows NA Opposition Leader Omar Ayub’s statement on Tuesday in which he called the negotiations “useless” without the formation of the judicial commission.
“The constitution of a judicial commission is necessary before the fourth round of negotiations,” Ayub said referring to the next session scheduled for January 28, according to Senator Irfan Siddiqui, a member of the government negotiating committee.
The government deplored the PTI’s “rigid attitude” and Prime Minister’s Assistant on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah said: “We will not extract anything from the PTI if they participate.” [fourth round of talks]…negotiations are not a decree.”
National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, who is mediating the talks, said progress can never be made if one sticks to just one point. “The talks should make mutual concessions, otherwise they would not progress,” he said.
Meanwhile, on the very pressing issue of the Judiciary Committee, Senator Siddiqui said the ruling coalition is yet to take a decision on the issue.
Reacting to Barr Gohar’s statement, Senator Faisal Vawda said the government and PTI shared the same objective during the negotiations. He said both sides were seeking to ensure that the PTI founder remained in jail.
“Now they will let the government function as PTI members are happy to see their founder in jail,” Vawda remarked. He further alleged that the PTI is acting as a guarantor of the PML-N government.
“They supported the government in all the amendments,” he added. “More than half of their leaders are present in KP and looting continues on both fronts,” Vawda said.
“None of them went to jail, and they seem happy that the PTI founder is jailed,” he said. On the day of the sentencing, they seemed upset, but there was no protest, Vawda said.
“They just want to put on a show,” he concluded.
PTI demands
The PTI, in its written submission to the government negotiating committee, said it wanted the work of the two committees to be open to the general public as well as the media.
The party said it would identify political prisoners arrested following the events of May 9 and November 24-24 or any other political events elsewhere.
In total, he presented a total of 22 key files to the government, notably putting forward five requests concerning the formation of two commissions of inquiry.
First commission
The first commission will be tasked with conducting a thorough investigation into the legality of the events leading to Khan’s arrest on May 9, 2023.
The commission will also investigate the legality of the manner in which Khan was arrested and who was responsible for the break-in into the premises of the Islamabad High Court – from where Khan was arrested – by Rangers and police.
Events in the country following Khan’s arrest, particularly the circumstances in which groups of individuals were able to reach various high-security locations where property damage was allegedly caused, should also be investigated , PTI said.
CCTV footage at each location where damage is alleged to have been caused by protesters should be probed and if CCTV footage is not available, the causes of the lack of availability should be determined.
The manner in which those arrested in connection with the events of May 9 were apprehended and then kept in detention as well as the circumstances of their release should be the subject of an investigation, the document indicates.
Second commission
This second body should be tasked with conducting a thorough investigation into the events of November 24-27, 2024 in Islamabad, the days when the party, led by KP CM Gandapur and Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi, marched towards Islamabad.
The PTI demanded that it be asked whether there was use of live ammunition and other forms of physical assault against the protesters in Islamabad.
“If so, who ordered the use of live ammunition and other violent actions against protesters? To what extent was the use of force excessive? If so, who was responsible for the excessive use of force?”
The number of people killed, injured and missing after the November protest must be revealed, PTI demanded.
The commission should also examine and verify the status of CCTV recordings in various hospitals and medical establishments in Islamabad with respect to the said period, the document mentioned.
Furthermore, it should be investigated whether the records of hospitals and other medical institutions were falsified and, if so, under whose instructions and under whose command was this done? “Have hospitals been prevented from disclosing information about the dead and injured?
