Vawda challenges Sanaullah’s claim of ‘deal’ offered to Imran

Senator Faisal Vawda on Tuesday questioned the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah over his claim that the founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had twice been offered a political deal but chose not to accept it.

“First tell us when, where and how? Or is this one of those deals that only exists in your imagination and that only you know about?” Vawda asked in a post on X addressed to Sanaullah.

It added: “I think you are lucky that according to you he did not accept the deal. If the PTI founder had accepted this alleged deal, you know he would have gone after the politicians – and he would not have spared you either. Where the politicians would have gone after it, I don’t even know.”

Vawda further warned against what he described as shooting “political arrows into the air”, warning that such statements could backfire on those who make them. “The political maneuvers of the past are now obsolete. Think of something new,” he concluded.

Sanaullah has previously said that the PTI founder was offered a deal on two occasions but declined without publicly stating the nature or timing of the alleged offers. A day earlier, he claimed that during PTI’s November 2024 protest, Imran initially agreed to hold talks and not protest at D-Chowk, but later backed out, adding that it was a missed opportunity for his release.

In an interview on the ‘Capital Talk’ program on a private news outlet on Wednesday, Sanaullah revealed that the government, including Interior Minister Naqvi, had made an offer to Imran, suggesting that the party hold its planned November 2024 sit-in in Sangjani instead of marching towards D-Chowk.

“He (Imran) was given wise advice and Mohsin Naqvi was directly engaged in talks with him and told him not to come towards Islamabad or go to D-Chowk but to sit in Sangjani and hold talks there. Initially Imran Khan agreed to this but after accepting it, he backed down and said that Bushra would take the decision that Sangjani would take the decision,” she said. said.

He explained that if Imran had accepted, he would have received concessions, adding that the decision led to a missed opportunity for his release. Asked whether Imran had allegedly said he did not want to come out, Sanaullah replied: “You can say that.” The prime minister’s aide said the PTI founder could have secured his release from Adiala jail if the party had taken a more peaceful approach during its 2024 protest.

Earlier on Thursday, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar strongly rejected media reports suggesting any “deal” between the government and Imran. In a statement shared on X, Tarar said: “There is neither any deal nor any leniency for Imran.” He added that any suggestion that the government was making concessions to Imran Khan was “completely false and misleading”.

Tarar concluded, “Imran Khan is a convicted criminal and the news of his release is baseless. There is no truth in this news.”

Khan, 73, has been imprisoned since August 2023 following convictions he and the PTI call politically motivated. Since his ouster in 2022 in a vote of no confidence, he has faced several cases, including state gifts and an illegal marriage. Some sentences have been suspended or overturned pending appeals. He pleads not guilty.