By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The government and jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s opposition party have reportedly reached an understanding aimed at averting a mass march on the capital due to begin Sunday, though the final decision rests with Khan.
After a second round of talks in the National Assembly speaker’s chamber, sources on both sides said a written agreement was being prepared for signing. A joint statement was expected “shortly”, but had not been issued at the time of writing. Government and opposition leaders were also expected to address the media.
The talks are the first formal contact between the federal government and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in almost three years. They were called after weeks of rising tension over the party’s plan to march on Islamabad to demand Khan’s release. The standoff had prompted warnings from federal ministers that the centre could impose governor’s rule or declare an emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), the northwestern province governed by PTI.
According to sources, the government has agreed that Allama Raja Nasir Abbas, the Senate opposition leader, and Mahmood Khan Achakzai, the opposition leader in the National Assembly, may meet Khan in Adiala jail in Rawalpindi. The sources said the opposition had given its nod to calling off the march.
Achakzai appeared to qualify that after speaking by phone with the opposition negotiating team from outside the room. Sources said he told them to inform the government that a decision would be conveyed only after he had consulted Khan. He maintained that no announcement could be made without that meeting.
The PTI delegation also demanded the immediate release of Khan’s sisters and of the party’s parliamentarians and workers, sources said. Opposition leaders reportedly assured the government they would try to persuade Khan to resolve the issues through negotiation.
Separately, sources said members of the PTI’s political and core committees had suggested the march could be postponed rather than cancelled if the government made progress in the talks. The party had already pushed the march back once, from 27 September to 4 October.
“Successful”
Naveed Qamar, a Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) member of the government negotiating team, said the talks could be called successful. He said a joint draft agreed by both sides would be issued, but that “some wording” was still being revised. He said any success would belong to both sides, and he hoped there would be neither a long march nor an emergency in KP.
Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, the PTI’s interim chairman, said before the session that the talks were important for the country and for democracy. He said the party wanted to hold its march without an emergency or governor’s rule being imposed in KP. He also expressed disappointment at remarks by some ministers, whom he did not name. The session started late, he said, because opposition leaders had been consulting at Parliament House.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and Rana Sanaullah, the prime minister’s adviser on political affairs, telephoned Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif during the session to brief him, according to sources.
Later, Shaukat Yousafzai, a PTI leader from KP, welcomed reports of a successful outcome. He said it should be seen as a victory for Pakistan rather than for either side. He urged the federal government to support the KP administration against terrorism, and said imposing governor’s rule would have done significant damage.
The conciliatory mood followed a day of sharp exchanges. Earlier on Saturday, Sohail Afridi, the KP chief minister, said an “ocean of people” would set out from Gandi Chowk in Lakki Marwat at 1pm on Sunday. He said the party would not allow a repeat of the violence of 9 May 2023, when Khan’s arrest set off attacks on military installations. Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, the parliamentary affairs minister, said such remarks could damage the talks. He called Mr Afridi’s language against the leadership “extremely indecent and reprehensible”.
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif also questioned whether the PTI and the KP government had hired militants to stir up unrest on 4 October. He alleged that vehicles filmed in Waziristan were part of a convoy, and asked who was paying for it. He offered no evidence. Asad Qaiser, a senior PTI figure, called the tone of his post “extremely inappropriate” but reiterated the party’s wish to resolve the deadlock peacefully.
On Friday, the army’s leadership warned that any attempt to create a “May 9-like situation” would be met with decisive force.
Friday’s first round ended without agreement, though both sides described the atmosphere as cordial. Sources said the government pressed the PTI to call off the march, while the party pressed for access to Khan. Khan has been in prison since August 2023. The PTI says he is being held illegally, and its sources say the party also wants him moved to hospital for treatment.
The decision to open talks was taken on Thursday at a meeting at the presidency. It was attended by President Asif Ali Zardari, Sharif and Mr Naqvi, among others. A source said an emergency in KP was discussed, but that participants agreed to give dialogue a chance first. Sanaullah has said the government has arrangements in place to stop the march if it proceeds.
The government team includes Naqvi, Amir Muqam, Chaudhry, Talal Chaudhry and Sanaullah, with the PPP represented by Sherry Rehman, Qamar and Aijaz Jakhrani. Speaker Ayaz Sadiq chaired the talks, and sources said he played a key role in mediating. The opposition side was led by Abbas and Gohar, with Qaiser, Salman Akram Raja, Amir Dogar and Haleem Adil Sheikh.
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