PTI's Gohar, Gandapur hold 'direct, positive' meeting with Army Chief Gen Munir

• All PTI demands presented to COAS directly, says Gohar.
• He finally confirms that he met COAS after denying it initially.
• Gohar optimistic about situation improving post-discussions.
  

RAWALPINDI: Taking a U-turn, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Barrister Gohar said on Thursday that he had called on Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir along with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur.

PTI Chairman Gohar, speaking to journalists at the Adiala Jail courtroom, finally confirmed that he had indeed met with the military chief after he kept on denying the meeting.

Explaining what had transpired during their rare talks with the COAS, the PTI chairman said that all matters and demands of the party were presented directly to General Munir.

He termed direct negotiations with the establishment as a positive step towards resolving ongoing issues. Barrister Gohar further said: "I and Ali Amin Gandapur held a meeting with COAS Munir, during which we outlined all of PTI’s concerns and priorities."

PTI founder Imran Khan also confirmed to reporters that Gohar had met the army chief in Peshawar. Khan mentioned that his party had long been trying to get the other side on the negotiation table.

Sources, meanwhile, also mentioned that the PTI chairman was transported to Peshawar via a helicopter to meet the military's chief.

The meeting reportedly occurred during COAS Munir's visit to Peshawar, where he met top provincial political leaders and emphasised: "If there is a state, there is politics. God forbid, without a state, there is nothing."

Elaborating on the reported meeting while speaking to Geo News, Gohar remarked: "What Imran Khan has said about my meeting with the COAS is correct".

The confirmation comes after The News reported that backchannel talks between the government and the PTI, which paused a few weeks back amid focus on the formal dialogue process between the two sides, have revived and entered an important stage.

An informed source told the publication that two PTI leaders — Barrister Gohar and KP CM Gandapur — had an exclusive meeting with three very important persons. The meeting, the venue of which was neither Islamabad nor Rawalpindi, was held last Monday.

In the next meeting, a federal minister and two important persons will apparently meet the PTI side. However, the result of these meetings depends on the PTI’s future policies and its style of politics. It has to accept the system and distance itself from politics of agitation and confrontation.

The political temperature is simmering as this development comes on the heels of the third round of talks between the former ruling party and the government, in which the PTI has finally presented its written demands.

In its demands, the PTI sought the establishment of two commissions led by the chief justice or three senior judges of the Supreme Court for an investigation into the events related to the May 9, 2023, and November 24 protests, 2024.

The party also urged the federal and provincial governments to support the court orders granting bails or suspending conviction and sentences of all political prisoners.