In response to rumors of covert negotiations, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and former president Dr. Arif Alvi declared on Saturday that Imran Khan, the party’s founder, would prefer to remain in prison than to reach a compromise.
Alvi, however, urged the parties to engage in dialogue in order to find a way to resolve their political differences.
He said this while giving a speech today in Sialkot’s district bar. The former president claimed to have known the PTI founder for a very long time and to have always valued the Constitution above all else.
Regarding his encounter with the imprisoned Khan, Alvi stated that he asked the party founder if they had come to a dead end, but the PTI founder expressed optimism about a way out of the current situation.
When the PTI senior leader met Khan in the jail, he said he didn’t see any symptoms of terror on his face. The PTI founder was presented with “many offers, but he rejected them all,” he continued.
The imprisoned former premier stated that discussion was the only remaining option and that there would be no end to the political unrest without a “constitutional” solution. “Only civilians can rule Pakistan,” declared the politician.
He referred to the establishment of the coalition government led by the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) as “accidental democracy in Pakistan.”