PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja said on Thursday that negotiations with the federal government would not take place if party founder Imran Khan is not present.

Speaking on Geo News programme ‘Capital Talk’, Raja said that the party’s stance on talks is very clear: “You cannot come into our house, attack us, loot us and then invite us for negotiations.

“Give us an agenda, tell us what topics will be discussed,” he added. “We cannot negotiate in Imran Khan’s absence. You cannot expect to put him in a black hole while everyone else talks and the PM eats biscuits. It will not happen like that.”

Raja continued, recounting that between December 2024 and January 2025, they wanted to meet Imran and have him present at the talks, but that was not authorised.

He added that judicial probes into the riots on May 9, 2023, and the PTI’s Islamabad march on November 26, 2024, were also denied.

“The plan seems to be an effort to bury the attack on voters on February 8, 2024, and move on from it,” the party official claimed, referring to the date of the last general elections, which the PTI has repeatedly claimed were rigged.

When asked about whether talks would happen on January 12, as per Federal Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, Raja replied that he was not aware of the date.

In response to another question about differing party views on talks, Raja emphasised that Tehreek Tahafuz Ayeen-i-Pakistan (TTAP) chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai and Imran’s sister Aleema Khan were on the same page.

“This past Tuesday, Achakzai sahib and Aleema were present outside Adiala jail. Together, they spoke with the press,” the secretary general replied.

“They’re saying the same thing: talks will only happen when the powers that be realise that the Pakistani people are tired of them and the system. It’s a system where people are struggling to find livelihoods, health and education. We need to express our displeasure.”

Raja further added that Achakzai had travelled from Islamabad to Lahore today for street mobilisation, but claimed that the TTAP chief was stopped several times along the route and several PTI workers had been arrested and “someone had died”.

“How can talks happen in this environment, if you are not willing to give even a little bit of political space?” he asked. “You have denied two distinguished gentlemen passage from Islamabad to Lahore and have turned Lahore into a battleground. And you want us to sit and talk?

“Negotiations do not happen in a graveyard or a jail, they require space.”

On December 23, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif reiterated his offer for talks with the opposition but also emphasised that dialogue between the two sides could only proceed on “legitimate matters”.

Since then, the PTI has said that it would not come to the table, citing instructions from Imran. However, the TTAP opposition alliance, of which the PTI is a part, has stated its openness to talks.

Last week, Prime Minister’s Adviser on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah said that “confidence-building measures” between five major players in the country would improve the overall political situation.

“Two of them are my leaders, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Nawaz Sharif. The third is President Asif Ali Zardari, the fourth is [incarcerated PTI leader] Imran Khan, and everyone knows who the fifth is,” Sanaullah said.

In response to Sanaullah, PTI Chief Whip Malik Amir Dogar said the government should arrange a meeting between Achakzai, MWM chief Allama Raja Nasir Abbas, and the incarcerated PTI founder.

“Hopefully, a path will be made,” he added.