PTI founder accepts SC’s advice to hold talks with political parties

ISLAMABAD: PTI founder Imran Khan has accepted the Supreme Court’s (SC) advice and is ready to ‘conditionally’ engage in talks with all political parties, including PML-N and PPP, ARY News reported on Monday.

In this regard, the incarcerated ex-premier will write a letter to the Supreme Court seeking its guidance on the matter.

The party leadership has been instructed to prepare a draft of the letter, which will highlight the current political and economic situation in the country and the challenges it faces.

The letter will also demand fair trials for PTI leaders and workers who are incarcerated or facing cases regarding May 9 violence and others. The party’s legal committee will meet today to finalise the draft of the letter.

Insiders told ARY news that PTI is willing to engage in serious and meaningful dialogue with ‘authorised representatives’ of political parties.

The Supreme Court of Pakistan had advised PTI founder Imran Khan to initiate dialogue with politicians, as Imran Khan spoke in the court regarding accountability laws.

The PTI founder addressed the court via a video link from the Adiala Central Jail during the hearing of the government’s intra-court appeal against the Supreme Court decision in the case pertaining to the amendments to the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO).

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Imran Khan addressed the court for approximately 35 minutes in front of the larger bench, headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa. Justices Aminuddin Khan, Jamal Khan Mandokhel, Athar Minallah, and Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi also sat on the bench.

During his address, the former premier alleged that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) was not under his control in PTI tenure.

He emphasised that when there is a disagreement between the government and the opposition regarding the appointment of the NAB chairman, a designated ‘third umpire’ steps in to make the appointment.

Justice Mandokhel said that Imran’s statement was scaring him. He told the PTI founder that if the situation was so precarious, then “sit down with your fellow politicians and resolve the issues”.

“Lead your group. You’re looking up to us and we’re looking up to you,” Justice Mandokhel told the PTI founder. The judge further stated that if, God forbid, something were to happen to the country, the responsibility would lie with the politicians, not the judges.