Amidst the crackdown on his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf political party, Pakistan’s jailed ex-prime minister Imran Khan has said that some of his party leaders are in contact with the powerful establishment, as he expressed readiness to hold a dialogue with anyone.
His comments came on Saturday as he spoke to reporters after the hearing of the Al-Qadir Trust corruption case, said the Dawn newspaper.
For the sake of the country
Khan (71) stated that he was willing to hold a dialogue with anyone for the sake of the country. He said if he could hold talks with former army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa then he could meet anyone since the country was passing through a difficult phase. Interestingly, Khan had blamed Bajwa for being instrumental in the fall of his government in April 2022.
He informed that a few leaders in his party “are still in contact with the establishment”, obviously for negotiations. However, the ex-PM did not elaborate.
He also argued that the mandate of his party had been taken away and efforts were being made to take over the party.
Since falling out with the powerful army, Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party has been encountering a crackdown. The party faced arm-twisting in the form of detentions and desertions in the wake of violence on May 9 that broke out after Khan’s detention last year.