ISLAMABAD: The incarcerated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founding chairman Imran Khan on Saturday said he will negotiate with those who have real power.
Talking to media persons at Adiala jail after the Al Qadir Trust case hearing against him and his wife Bushra Bibi, he said that he would hold negotiations on two conditions.
The first condition is the negotiations will be held within the framework of the constitution and the second is his party’s stolen mandate be returned, he said.
Imran Khan says ready to hold talks with military
He said that what dialogue can I have with a government that would collapse with the opening of just four constituencies? “My negotiations will be with those who hold actual power”, he said
When he was asked the establishment said that you should apologize in front of the public, he said that they should apologise to me as I was oppressed and abducted by Rangers.
To a question that Mehmood Achakzai has refused to hold negotiations with the establishment on your instructions, he said that Achakzai was tasked to hold negotiations with political parties.
When he was told that you had taken U-turn from your previous statement, he said that the people who had taken the biggest U-turn are those who raised the slogans of “respect vote” and now they chose to respect the boot.
To a question that you have refrained your party leaders from making statements against the army, he said that any government institution would be criticised if it did any wrongdoing.
He said that he was criticised for calling for a peaceful protest outside General Headquarters (GHQ). Where is written in the constitution that staging protests in front of GHQ is a crime? There is an undeclared martial law in the country.
Khan initially did not respond to the question about the cancellation of the basic membership of Sher Afzal Marwat. However, when reporters asked about the matter repeatedly, he said that he would talk about the issue at some other time.
Regarding the Toshakhana case, Khan accused the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) of violating its own laws, saying that NAB filed two references against me regarding the Toshakhana, claiming undervaluation of a necklace in both cases. Inam Shah, the same approver, is used in both references. Once acquitted, I plan to file cases against chairman NAB and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and the investigating officers as well as those who testified against him falsely.
Khan said that NAB was unaware that the necklace in question was with him. “Before the NAB raid on March 18 at Bani Gala, all valuable items were moved to a secure location.”
Earlier, the Accountability Court judge, Nasir Javed Rana, heard the £190 million National Crime Agency (NCA) scam is commonly known as the Al-Qadir Trust case. During the hearing, the cross-examination of the investigation officer (IO) Umair Rathore did not complete as defence counsel as PTI’s founding chairman lawyer Zaheer Abbas Chaudhry was not available. The court adjourned the hearing of the case till August 7.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024