Former minister Fawad Chaudhry claimed on Wednesday that the “impacts” of the efforts of a trio — comprising him and other ex-PTI leaders — for political stability in the country and the release of political prisoners, including PTI founder Imran Khan, would start bearing fruit in the next 10 to 15 days.

Fawad, along with fellow former PTI leaders Mehmood Moulvi and Imran Ismail, has been insisting on talks between the government and the PTI, in what they say is an effort to bring the political temperature down and pave the way for Imran’s release, who has been in jail since 2023.

“I am very pleased that the efforts for political stability and to secure the release of political prisoners, including Imran, have resulted in significant initial successes, and their impact will start becoming evident in the next 10 to 15 days,” Fawad posted on social media platform X.

He reiterated that himself, Moulvi and Ismail were making these efforts for “political stability in Pakistan”, expressing the optimism that differences and distances would soon diminish in the political landscape.

“It is important to abate political hostilities for Pakistan’s political stability and […] long-term development,” Fawad said.

The statement came hours after a late-night post on Imran’s X account quoted him as saying that he would “neither hold talks with the government nor with the establishment”.

While it remains unclear that who runs Imran’s social media accounts with him being in jail, posts on his X accounts frequently carry statements that are described as his messages from jail.

In the post, Imran said it was futile to hold talks and any decisions regarding negotiations would be taken by Mehmood Khan Achakzai and Raja Nasir Abbas, who are part of the opposition alliance Tehreek-i-Tahafuz Ayeen-i-Pakistan, along with the PTI.

The post also quoted Imran as saying that he had complete trust in PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja, who has been criticised by Fawad in recent days.

Political outreach campaign

Fawad, Ismail and Moulvi’s recent activities came into the spotlight when they visited PTI’s Shah Mahmood Qureshi at a hospital in Lahore last week. The trio, however, was reported to have returned empty-handed, with Qureshi’s lawyer saying that had no political discussion with his client.

Qureshi is among several PTI leaders who were sent to prison in cases pertaining to May 9, 2023 protest that erupted over Imran’s arrest the same day. A crackdown on the party was launched after the violent protests, during which several public properties and military installations were vandalised.

The former foreign minister was shifted to the Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute from jail for medical treatment, where the three former PTI leaders visited him.

“Shah Mahmood Qureshi was surprised to see them and immediately asked the police on duty to call his lawyer, who had left just a minute ago, and tell him some ‘guests’ had arrived,” Qureshi’s lawyer Rana Mudassar later said, adding that by the time he got back, the ex-PTI leaders had already gone. He said the visitors stayed only a little over 10 minutes and left without any political discussion with Qureshi.

However, the former PTI leaders, particularly Fawad and Ismail, have been insisting that Qureshi had agreed with them that the stalemate in Pakistan’s politics must end. The also maintain that they met another jailed PYI leader Ejaz Chaudhry in this regard.

After their visit to the hospital, Raja also reportedly called on Qureshi, with party leaders Shaukat Basra and Zaheer Babar in tow.

On Sunday, Fawad had doubled down on his quest to revive the fortunes of the PTI, even as senior party leaders like Asad Qaiser maintained that both the party and its founder “will not compromise on their principles” even if they engage in a dialogue.

He also claimed that most seasoned PTI politicians and more than 15 MPAs had approached him to express their agreement that a government-PTI engagement was “highly necessary”. He urged the government to take the first step towards de-escalation by offering relief to imprisoned senior PTI leaders.

“If the government gives relief to the incarcerated Lahore and Gujranwala leaders, then these leaders could engage with the jailed Khan and lead a process of engagement,” he explained. “Imran Khan’s mandate is with the party leaders, who have been in jails for the past two years,” he acknowledged, referring to PTI leaders such as Qureshi and Dr Yasmin Rashid.

He also shared the trio’s plans to approach the National Assembly speaker and the Senate chairman, as well as some senior ministers, and ask them to play a role in defusing political tensions.

The ex-PTI leaders have also dispelled the impression that they were working on a ‘minus Imran formula’.