ISLAMABAD: Anticipating a deadlock in talks over the proposed Panama Papers inquiry commission, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan has begun overseeing preparations to mobilise party workers in case the government continues to stonewall efforts at the committee level for a consensus on terms of reference (ToR).

Chairing two back-to-back meetings in Bani Gala on Sunday, Mr Khan reviewed the party’s membership data and was briefed on mobilisation plans that will be in place if he decides to take to the streets.

Party sources privy to developments told Dawn that Mr Khan wanted to first see how things pan out in the parliamentary committee, adding that the PTI chief would only opt to take his anti-corruption and anti-government drive to the streets once the parliamentary option was exhausted.

They said that the party chairman – sensing the government’s reluctance to allow a meaningful probe – had directed all party officials, in so many words, to prepare for workers’ mobilisation after Eid.

In the first meeting, PTI’s chief election commissioner Senator Nouman Wazir briefed Mr Khan on the party membership data. Senator Wazir told the meeting that due to their well-organised records, party members could be mobilised at short notice. According to a press statement released by the PTI’s media wing, Mr Khan asked party officials to prepare a comprehensive plan for an organised mobilisation.

In the second meeting, Shah Mehmood Qureshi – who represents PTI on the 12-member parliamentary committee dealing with the ToR for the proposed Panama Papers commission – briefed Mr Khan on the committee’s deliberations thus far.

According to the official statement, Mr Qureshi was asked to consult other opposition political parties to plot their next move. Moreover, he told the meeting that the PTI would resist attempts to create divisions within the opposition’s ranks.

“We are well aware that the government is trying to single us out because of our efforts for a collective opposition stand on the Panamagate scandal,” Mr Qureshi was quoted as saying.

Talking to Dawn, PTI chief spokesperson Naeemul Haq, who was present in both meetings, said, “From Mr Qureshi’s briefing, it does not seem that he is hopeful of a positive outcome from the ToR committee.”

Mr Haq also said the ToR committee could only move forward if the government decided to significantly review its stand. “A lot depends on the message that Finance Minister Ishaq Dar — who has gone to see the prime minister — brings back from London over the weekend,” he said.

Moreover, PPP Senator Aitzaz Ahsan was in Karachi for discussions with his party chairman about the future of the ToR committee. Mr Haq reiterated the party’s stance that if the ToR committee resisted free and fair investigations, the PTI would take to the streets, even if it had to go it alone.

Besides, independent observers are reading a lot into Dr Tahirul Qadri’s recent announcement of another anti-government sit-in, and predict that the political situation may heat up considerably after Eid.