Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf not holding 'backdoor talks' with anyone: Gohar Khan

Islamabad [Pakistan], April 30 : Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Barrister Gohar Khan on Monday said his party, as of now, was not holding 'backdoor talks' with anyone, top Pakistani daily The Express Tribune reported.
His remarks come a day after it was reported that incarcerated PTI founder and former prime minister Imran Khan had given the green light to negotiations with the establishment and political forces.
PTI chairman made the remarks while addressing a press conference alongside party leader Sher Afzal Marwat after meeting Imran Khan at Adiala Jail on Monday. He said that the PTI founder had only sought names for holding talks. However, no talks are being held right now.
He further said, "Today, the PTI founder was barred from addressing the media by the jail administration, while several of our legal representatives were denied entry into the jail."
Gohar said Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif had been "exonerated of all charges while the PTI founder was being punished in fabricated cases", The Express Tribune reported.
"The police are being used against our party. Maryam Nawaz dressed in police attire sends a clear message that the police is subordinate to them," PTI chairman quoted Imran Khan as saying during their meeting.
At the same press conference, PTI leader Sher Afzal Marwat said Imran voiced strong opposition to Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar's appointment as Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister, calling him Nawaz Sharif's "frontman".
"Consultations are ongoing for the selection of chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), and a final decision will be announced tomorrow," Gohar said.
Addressing reports of former PTI leaders seeking to rejoin the party, the party leaders stated that only Imran Khan will have a final say on the matter.
Earlier, on Sunday, it was reported that Imran gave the go-ahead to PTI to hold negotiations with the establishment and political adversaries. However, he made it clear that any talks must play by the rulebook, emphasizing PTI's readiness to sit down with both the powers that be and political adversaries for the greater good.
"The manner in which the negotiations will take place and in what environment should be decided first, only then will the way for the negotiations be paved with those who are the stakeholders," the PTI chairman said.
Fellow party leader Shibli Faraz called for the release of the PTI's female members and political detainees, stressing that legal proceedings should only be pursued where justified, The Express Tribune reported.
Further, Shehryar Afridi said the PTI's objective is not to seek a National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) for itself but rather to negotiate for the betterment of Pakistan's future. He also expressed Imran Khan's desire to hold talks with the establishment from day one, lamenting the absence of a response thus far.
On April 26, PTI's Shehryar Afridi said that his party would hold "dialogues with the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) and the Director General of the Inter-Services Intelligence (DG ISI) soon" instead of talking to "rejected people" who reached the parliament using "Form 47", Geo News reported.
He made the remarks while speaking on the Geo News programme 'Naya Pakistan' when he was asked about ways to put Pakistan on the path of political stability, according to a Geo News report.
"My leader doesn't want any NRO. We want dialogues for the betterment of Pakistan," Afridi said, adding that Khan seeks to hold talks with all stakeholders for a better country but he did not receive any response.
He stated that PTI was not going against the national interests, military, and other state institutions.
He added that PTI will soon hold negotiations with the army chief and the top spy.