ISLAMABAD/KARACHI: Charged Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) supporters are camped out in Islamabad or racing to Zero Point on the rousing cry of their leader Imran Khan who has said he will accept nothing short of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s resignation.
But sources within the party say Imran may soften his demand and instead present a set of conditions that it expects the government to deliver as a course of action once he reaches the capital.
“We will present a set of conditions to them and if the government is sensible, they will deliver. If they meet nine out of 10 of these demands, we will accept it [instead of the resignation]. If they expect us to back off by meeting say one out of 10, we will not leave,” a party insider requesting anonymity told Dawn.
Another senior PTI official hinted at a "possible negotiation" with the government when Imran arrives in Islamabad.
The development comes amidst news reports that suggest the military brokered an “unwritten” deal between the beleaguered government and hostile PTI.
While the contours of the deal are not clear, a story published in The Nation says the PTI has assured the government that it will not stage a sit-in in Islamabad, withdraw its demand for the immediate resignation of the prime minister and restrict its plea to the verification of election results of some constituencies.
The report also states that the government has assured compliance, offering complete electoral reform and opening constituencies according to the PTI’s demand.
While the PTI official did not confirm the authenticity of the report, he did indicate that the party is looking to the Supreme Court for a solution to the allegations of rigging which form the basis of PTI’s anti-government protests.
He also presented an alternative scenario to the party’s impending Islamabad movement. “Any commitments that happen in the background can change according to the mood of the crowd. A leader feeds of the energy of his supporters, and the workers are gaining strength in numbers.”
“If there is any violence like the kind that broke in Gujranwala earlier today, the system will come to a halt. You cannot control this crowd [if it is provoked]. The country could be on fire.”
The Musharraf element
Officials on condition of anonymity told Dawn that the removal of General (retd) Pervez Musharraf’s name from the Exit Control List was the litmus test in the reported verbal agreement between the government and military.
Sources said that in return for the removal of his name, the demand by protesting parties for Nawaz’s resignation will be called off.
When asked about back channel contact between political and military leaders, Federal Minister General (R) Abdul Qadir Baloch confirmed the meeting between Shahbaz Sharif, Nisar Ali Khan and army chief General Raheel Sharif but expressed ignorance about the reported guarantees offered by the senior PML-N leaders on behalf of the prime minister.
A government source also revealed that Nawaz Sharif is unhappy about “mounting pressure from the establishment to release Musharraf, and also over its support to the PTI”.
