ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan’s top aide urged President Arif Alvi on Saturday to broker a dialogue between him and ex-PM Nawaz Sharif to bring down political tensions, discuss free and fair elections, and a framework to run the country.
Sharif, whose last three terms in office ended abruptly and whose previous reigns were marred by confrontations with the military and political rivals, returned to Pakistan on Saturday after living in four years of self-imposed exile. He held a public gathering at Lahore’s iconic Minar-e-Pakistan in a homecoming rally attended by thousands.
Sharif’s return to the country takes place at a time when Pakistan is reeling from a host of political, economic and security crises. His return also takes place at a time when Khan, arguably the most popular politician in the country, is in jail after being convicted in a case related to not declaring assets earned from the sale of state gifts during his term as PM from 2018-22.
While speaking to his supporters in Lahore on Saturday night, Sharif said he had “no desire for revenge” in his heart and only wished to see Pakistanis prosper.
“You will have to talk to Mr. Imran Khan and his party,” Ali Muhammad Khan, a senior leader of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, said while speaking to a private news channel.
“And this should be done through the President House. The president should call Mian sahab (Nawaz Sharif) and he should also invite Imran Khan. Even the [military] establishment should be there.”
The PTI leader said the dialogue should focus on conducting free and fair elections in Pakistan, adding that all sides should agree on a framework to run the country.
“The president will, God willing, take this step and he should take it,” Ali Muhammad Khan said. “He is a political worker, he is not someone who will sit or stand on anyone’s directions, he is a people’s man.”
Pakistan President Dr Arif Alvi is pictured at the National Assembly in Islamabad on September 4, 2018. (AFP/File)
Sharif’s last three terms as prime minister in 1990-93, 1997-99, and 2013-17 ended before he could complete his tenures, as he was removed by a military-backed president in 1993, ousted in a military coup in 1999, and disqualified by the Supreme Court in 2017. The 2018 election was won by the party of now-jailed former prime minister Khan.
Meanwhile, Khan’s conviction has effectively put him out of the race in the next election as convicted persons cannot run for public office as per Pakistani law.
There are dozens of other legal cases against Khan and his PTI party faces a widening crackdown that has seen hundreds of his supporters and members arrested over violent protests in May. Many of his oldest and closest aides have announced they were leaving Khan, quitting politics or joining other parties.
Khan says the cases against him are fabricated and politically motivated and his associates are being forced out of the PTI under duress by the military in a maneuver to dismantle his party before elections and pave the way for Sharif’s party to come to power. The army denies this.
