ISLAMABAD: The political party of Pakistan’s imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan is holding a third round of talks today, Thursday, with the government over the release of its leader and other political activists and the formation of a judicial commission to probe accusations the party led violent protests. 

Khan’s ouster in a parliamentary vote of no-confidence in 2022 has plunged the country into long-term political crisis, particularly since the founder of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was jailed in August last year on corruption and other charges. His party and supporters regularly hold protests calling for his release, with some of the demonstrations turning violent, including one in November last year in which the government says four troops were killed and the PTI says 12 of its supporters died. 

Khan had previously rejected talks with the government, saying his party would only speak to the ‘real powerbrokers’ in Pakistan, the all-powerful army, but last month he set up a negotiating committee of top party leaders to open dialogue with the government on two main demands: the release of political prisoners and the establishment of judicial commissions to investigate PTI-led protests on May 9, 2023, and Nov. 26, 2024, in which the government says his supporters engaged in violence and arson.

The first round of talks took place on Dec. 23 and the second on Jan. 2.

“It will be our third session,” PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan told reporters on Wednesday. “We will give our demands in writing.”

On Thursday afternoon, Pakistani media widely reported that the party had handed over its written demands to the government negotiating team. 

“We expect that the government will ponder over them with seriousness,” Gohar had said a day earlier. “We hope that if [the government] participates with seriousness, an open mind, and sincerity, a solution can be found to all the issues.”

On Wednesday, Rana Sanaullah, a senior leader of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s PML-N party, told Pakistan’s Geo News the government negotiation committee was waiting for the PTI to clarify the details of its demands. 

“We [government committee] told them [PTI] at the last meeting that if you want a judicial commission then what terms of reference do you want, do you have any conditions on who should head it, and similarly, can you give us a list of who you consider political prisoners and then we can answer whether these are political prisoners or not,” Sanaullah said.

“Hopefully, at tomorrow’s [Thursday] meeting, they will give us this list and also their conditions on the judicial commission.” 

The talks opened last month as Khan had threatened a civil dissidence movement and amid growing concerns he could face trial by a military court for allegedly inciting attacks on sensitive security installations during the May 9 protests.

The negotiations also began two days after 25 civilians were sentenced by a military court to periods of two to 10 years of “rigorous imprisonment” in connection with attacks on military facilities on May 9, 2023. Just days later on Dec. 26, another 60 civilians were sentenced by a military court to jail time ranging from 2 to 10 years in connection with the May 9 attacks.

Khan’s arrest in May 2023 in a land graft case sparked countrywide protests that saw his supporters attack and ransack military installations in an unprecedented backlash against Pakistan’s powerful army generals. 

Although Khan was released days later, he was rearrested in August that year after being convicted in a corruption case. He remains in prison and says all cases against him are politically motivated.