Pakistan’s Imran Khan offers conditional talks with the military

By Asif Shahzad

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) -Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan has offered to hold “conditional negotiations” with the powerful military as he serves a year into a jail term that he said he was given on trumped up charges designed to keep him out of power.

Khan did not specify what he wanted to discuss with the military, but in a post on his official X account on Wednesday said that one of the conditions for negotiations was that “clean and transparent” elections be held and that “bogus” cases against his supporters be dropped.

He said he had appointed Mahmood Khan Achakzai, a close political ally and a known critic of the military, to represent him in any talks.

The military has previously ruled out talks with Khan.

“We will hold conditional negotiations if the military leadership appoints its representative,” Khan said on X.

“The country is under an undeclared martial law,” he added.

“We prefer negotiations with the military leadership, who are the actual decision-makers,” he said, adding that he refused to sit with the “puppet” government for any talks.

In response to Khan’s offer, the military released a video clip from a May 7 media conference in which its spokesman, Major General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, said it was not possible to sit with “any political ideology, any political leader, or any political group who is involved in attacks on its own army”.

The military says Khan and his party were behind the attacks on military installations that occurred last year during widespread protests against his detention. Khan blames the military for his 2022 ouster in a parliamentary vote of no confidence, a charge the military denies.

The army, which has ruled Pakistan for more than half of its 76-year history and plays an pivotal role in politics, says it does not get involved in government affairs.

Khan has been in jail since last August facing dozens of charges ranging from corruption to leaking state secrets.

His imprisonment has added to the political volatility in Pakistan, which is facing an economic crisis and is the process of being bailed out by the International Monetary Fund.

Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party say the charges were politically motivated to thwart his return to power.

Candidates backed by PTI had a stronger-than-expected showing in general elections earlier this year and a court recently ruled they were eligible for extra reserved seats, though still not enough to rule outright.