On Tuesday, the opposition party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) signalled that it was ready to hold dialogues with trivial political parties albeit with some conditions – including taking back all cases against Imran Khan.
The offer was made by a couple of PTI lawmakers in the National Assembly as members indulged in verbal skirmishes.
“Invitations for talks have come from Rana Sanaullah, the political adviser to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif …. as well as President Asif Zardari. I want to put this before the house on behalf of PTI. When has Imran Khan refused to hold negotiations,” asked PTI’s Ali Muhammad Khan while taking part in the debate.
“We believe that if Pakistan is to be put on the right track, then we [the politicians] will have to make decisions. We do not need any broker, dealer or individual who brings us to sit together,” he said, adding that when they would take their fight outside parliament, “then the Supreme Court will come into action, and Pindi [a reference to GHQ] and Aabpara [a reference to the ISI head office] and many other forces will come into action”, said Mr Khan, who served as the parliamentary affairs minister during the previous PTI government.
He asked the speaker to take the initiative, stating that their first point was the release of Imran Khan and other “political prisoners” as well as the withdrawal of all “political cases”.
The PTI MNA also mentioned the arrest of Nawaz Sharif by Gen Musharraf, saying they could not support such an action. He said Imran Khan was being punished like his predecessors when they tried to make independent decisions.
