Senator Irfan Siddiqui on Saturday criticised Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) engagement with top military leadership during an ongoing dialogue process, saying that the negotiations cannot run through multiple doors at the same time.
“There is no point in peeking through small doors and windows now. If the door they had been striving to open for a year is now open, then they should abandon these minor efforts,” the senator said, while referring to a recent meeting between PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir.
Siddiqui revealed that he was aware of the details and conversations held during the meeting. He said that Gohar had expressed optimism over the direct dialogue initiated at the highest military level, describing it as a “positive development”.
“Barrister Gohar reportedly stated that both backdoor and front-door processes for negotiations will continue. However, negotiations cannot be conducted simultaneously through multiple channels,” he added.
Senator Siddiqui also noted that PTI founder Imran Khan and Aleema Khan had both welcomed the party chairman’s meeting with the army chief.
It may be noted that the former ruling party is currently in talks with the federal government on its demands, which include the release of its founder, Imran, and other PTI leaders and supporters in jail.
The party finally presented its demands to the government’s negotiation committee in writing, seeking probes into the May 9, 2023, and November 26, 2024 events, as well as the release of “political prisoners”, in a third round of parleys held on on January 16.
Later that day, Gohar revealed that he and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur had recently held a meeting with COAS Munir in Peshawar, where they presented all matters and demands of the party directly to the army chief.
