ISLAMABAD – The party of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan on Jan 16 held formal reconciliatory talks with the government, aimed at cooling political instability in the South Asian nation, both sides said.
The talks come a day ahead of a crucial court ruling in a land corruption case against the 72-year-old former cricket star-turned-politician.
The verdict in the graft case due on Jan 17 is the largest that Khan faces in terms of financial impropriety, involving possible bribes of land in return for a £190 million (S$316 million) favor to a real estate tycoon.
The case is linked to the Al-Qadir Trust that Khan and his wife set up while he was in office.
Prosecutors say it was a front for Khan to receive land as a bribe from a real estate developer.
Khan’s party says the land was not for personal gain but was for a spiritual educational institution.
Khan’s removal from office in 2022 stoked the instability, which has worsened with his party leading violent protests to urge his release, and threatens an economic recovery under a US$7 billion (S$9.5 billion) International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout.
“We have presented our demands to the government,” Khan’s aide Omar Ayub, who is leading his side in the talks, told reporters.
The government agreed to party leaders’ meeting with Khan in jail, which should be done without any monitoring, he said.
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party’s demands mainly include setting up two judicial commissions to probe into the events which led to his arrest in August 2023, and protest rallies involving his supporters.
National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, who is facilitating communication between both parties, said he had received the PTI’s list of demands.
“We will respond to the demands within seven working days,” said lead negotiator Iran Siddique from the government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. REUTERS
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