PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan. PHOTO: EXPRESS
RAWALPINDI:
PTI chairman Gohar Ali Khan has dismissed claims that Imran Khan’s party and the ruling elite are in touch, saying if the PTI is in talks with the establishment, it will not hide it.
“We are very clear that if there is a backdoor contact, we will not hide it. Currently, we have no contact with anyone, including the establishment,” Goar said on Tuesday while addressing the media in Rawalpindi.
The PTI chief clarified that the opposition party has no enmity against anyone and PTI stands with Pakistan, the Pakistan Armed Forces and the state. “But if the government shakes hands with us and then also beats us, the situation will not improve,” he added.
Days after an opposition alliance – TTAP – issued its demand while also announcing “a wheel stoppage and shutdown” protest on the second anniversary of the February 8 ‘heavily rigged’ election, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on December 23 offered an olive branch to the PTI.
The PTI, however, stated that it could not enter negotiations “from a weak position” as it continued to prepare for a street movement.
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, who belongs to PTI, is currently leading this street movement and has visited Punjab and Sindh provinces to mobilize party supporters.
Meanwhile, TTAP is also engaged in building momentum for the February 8 protest.
Referring to the protest, Gohar said February 8 is their symbolic day as PTI’s mandate on that day in 2024 was allegedly stolen. “We will take up our protest on February 8 and our protest will be peaceful. We appeal to people to observe a shutdown and wheel stop.”
He said that PTI exists among people and it does not need any symbol. Gohar said he considers the notification of opposition leaders in the Senate and the National Assembly a good step.
“These announcements are good for the House and democracy. Both opposition leaders gave good messages in their speeches yesterday,” he said. Referring to the cases against Imran Khan, he said they were trying to meet Pakistan President Yahya Afridi again but he was busy.
He said a court convicted Imran and his wife Busra Bibi in the Al-Qadir case on January 17, 2025, but PTI’s appeal against the verdicts has not been listed for hearing so far.
He said they are requesting the judiciary that people should get justice at their doorstep. “When the doors of justice are closed, people take the law into their own hands. Because of the lack of justice, people resort to lynching and civil war.”
Barrister Gohar stated, “How long will you wait for Superman and Wonder Boys? For God’s sake, the judiciary should hear the PTI founder’s cases and deliver justice. There are no corruption charges against Bushra Bibi, so why was she convicted?” he asked.
