ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan said on Wednesday he is willing to constitute a committee to hold talks with “powerful people,” a reference to the military, amid escalating tensions between his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party and the military establishment.
The former prime minister’s statement came hours after Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif disclosed that the government is considering banning the PTI for what he said were “pre-planned” and “coordinated” attacks on military installations on May 9 during protests following Khan’s detention on corruption charges.
The development also took place shortly after Khan’s aide Chaudhry Fawad Hussain announced he was resigning from the party, the latest in a long line of Khan aides who have distanced themselves from the former premier, after the army vowed to try violent protesters under military laws.
“I am ready to form a committee today,” Khan told his supporters in a video message. “A negotiating committee that would hold talks with the powerful people today,” he added, referring to Pakistan’s military establishment.
“If they can convince this committee that Pakistan will function better without Imran Khan and that they have a solution, I’ll say it again; I am ready to leave [politics] for the sake of this country. I’ll step back.”
Khan said he is also willing to step back and leave everything aside if “those who are in power today” inform the committee about the benefits of holding elections in October and not before.
Khan appealed to his supporters to stay steadfast in the facing of growing hostility and stand by his side.
“Your captain is standing till there is blood in his body,” he said. “Your captain fights till the last ball, there is no question of accepting defeat. Whatever they are going to do, I am ready for it,” he added.
Khan’s relations with the military have taken a turn for the worse at a time when several of his party’s leaders, including Asad Umar, Ali Haider Zaidi, Maleeka Bokhari, and Shah Mahmood Qureshi remain behind bars.
The former prime minister says over 10,000 of his supporters across the country are languishing in jails on charges relating to maintenance of public order.
Khan, who has been calling for snap elections since his ouster from office last year, has accused the government of initiating the crackdown against his supporters to “crush” the PTI ahead of the upcoming general elections, a charge the government denies.