Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Azam Swati on Sunday claimed that former Prime Minister Imran Khan has authorized him to initiate talks with the establishment—if the latter is willing to negotiate for the party founder’s release.
In a video statement, Swati said he felt compelled to address misconceptions regarding a recent meeting between him and Khan at Adiala Jail. In an attempt to bolster his claims about Khan supporting talks with the establishment, the PTI leader said the former prime minister had asked him to pursue similar exchanges with Army chief Gen. Asim Munir shortly after his appointment in December 2022.
Subsequently, he claimed, he had reached out to someone close to Gen. Munir, a renowned anchorperson and a “Dr. Tanveer” to facilitate talks but had not been able to secure any contact. “Give me permission to work with [former president] Dr. [Arif] Alvi and others to open the doors for talks,” he recounted asking Khan in last week’s meeting. In response, he said, Khan had given his blessing.
“If they are ready for talks, I am willing—like I was from day one,” he quoted the jailed Khan as saying.
Swati urged vloggers and anchorpersons to stop sowing discord and work towards securing Khan’s release. He lamented that such people had launched a negative campaign against efforts of PTI USA leaders to secure Khan’s release.
Rejecting reports that Khan had told him off for seeking talks with the establishment, Swati maintained that, apart from martyrs, no other PTI worker or official had rendered more sacrifices for the party than him and his family. “I have faced torture and I have shared all details with Imran Khan,” he alleged. “I am the one who cared about the 1,100 workers in jail and made efforts to secure their bails,” he added.
The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa leader also voiced his support for Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, PTI KP President Junaid Akbar and party general secretary Salman Akram Raja, saying that they were “picked by Imran Khan himself.”