Imran Khan doesn't want to become Nawaz Sharif, says PTI leader

• One has to give concessions in such talks: Barrister Umair Niazi.
  
• Nawaz paid a price, leave practical politics, go into exile, he adds.
• KP CM's aide Shafiullah Jan says party's "planning something else".

With Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan behind bars for more than two years, a leader from the former ruling party has said that he doesn't want to be released via a deal like Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Nawaz Sharif.

"When you sit in these kinds of negotiations, you have to give many concessions too. The biggest example before us is of Nawaz [Sharif]," PTI's Barrister Umair Niazi said during a response to a question on Geo News' programme "Capital Talk".

"He paid a price for those negotiations; he had to leave practical politics, had to leave the country, go into exile, and had to sign a paper deal," the PTI leader said as to why Imran didn't want to be released.

Responding to host Hamid Mir's question whether Imran was not making a deal because he doesn't want to become Nawaz, Barrister Niazi said: "It is exactly that kind of situation".

Barrister Niazi's remarks come as the PTI, since 2023, has been at odds with the ruling coalition and has even marched multiple times to Islamabad in bid to secure Imran's release. However, such attempts proved to be futile and were met with crackdown and arrests by the authorities.

Apart from agitation, the PTI also held multiple rounds of negotiations, mediated by National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, in early 2025. The parleys, too, were inconclusive and were eventually derailed after the former ruling party quit the talks, citing the government's failure to constitute judicial commissions on May 9, 2023, and November 26, 2024, events within the seven-day deadline in line with its "charter of demands".

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif then had also offered to form a parliamentary committee to advance talks with PTI, however, the latter rejected it.

Meanwhile, PM's aide and PML-N Senator Rana Sanaullah, last month, had highlighted the need for trust-building and sustained contact among Pakistan’s top five figures, saying no political breakthrough would be possible without confidence-building measures at the highest level.

Top five figures include Nawaz Sharif, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, President Asif Ali Zardari, Imran Khan and another one, he remarked.

Most recently, the issue of Imran's imprisonment has been a point of contention between the PTI and the government due to the reports and health concerns pertaining to his health, specifically his deteriorated vision due to a medical issue in his right eye.

No meetings for Imran in Ramadan?

Appearing on the same show, Sanaullah was asked about Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi's announcement of forming an "Imran Khan Release Force" to secure the former PM's release, to which the senator said that "nothing will happen after Eid".

When asked by the host whether Imran's meeting with his lawyers and families will be barred in Ramadan due to any street movement, Sanaullah said: "That is [obviously] understood".

Expanding on the matter, specifically the release force and street movement issue, PTI's Barrister Niazi said that he doesn't think any consultation has taken place at any level in the party on the issue.

The PTI leader stressed that Imran's instructions are clear and that he has given a complete mandate to National Assembly Opposition Leader Mehmood Khan Achakzai and Senate Opposition Leader Allama Raja Nasir Abbas concerning holding the talks with the government as well as initiating protests.

No backdoor contacts: KP CM's aide

Separately, speaking on Geo News' programme "Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath", Special Assistant to Chief Minister on Information and Public Relations Shafiullah Jan was asked as to why the party ended its sit-ins in Islamabad and KP over Imran's health.

Ruling out any backdoor contacts behind the sit-ins being called off, Jan said that they don't believe in having backdoor contacts and maintained that the sit-ins were called off due to the Peshawar High Court (PHC) orders.

When questioned about the PHC orders, which were limited to sit-ins in KP, and so why the protest at the Parliament House was ended, the KP CM's aide said that it was due to Ramadan.

"We are thinking about something else, planning something else. We will come again, God willing, after Ramadan," he remarked.

"The thing to think about is that you see a person who goes [to court] with a petition on the same day, the petition is filed on the same day, the decision comes on that same petition, and the orders for the next 24 hours are issued."

"You can clearly see what the courts are doing with PTI on one side and how others are being facilitated on the other side," Jan further highlighted.

Responding to a question that people within PTI were somewhat sceptical of this new force and whether it was a wild goose chase, the KP CM's aide explicitly refuted it.

"Imran [Khan] gave the responsibility of the street movement to [CM] Afridi. In that context, we are going to establish a new release force. It is not necessary that you can only join this force while being a part of PTI."

"Any young person can join this release force, which will be a peaceful force. There will be formal membership, an oath will be taken from them, and one more thing: this will not be a political wing. The day Imran is released, this force will be dissolved," he added.