Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has said further negotiations with the federal government cannot make meaningful progress unless party leaders are allowed to meet imprisoned founder Imran Khan, adding another condition to efforts aimed at resolving the political confrontation surrounding its ongoing march towards Islamabad.
PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja said on Monday that negotiations had failed to produce a result and that the party would not make major decisions without consulting Khan. He identified access to the former prime minister as one of PTI’s two principal demands.
Raja said the other major disagreement involved counterterrorism operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. PTI maintains that actions in the province should be agreed between the federal and provincial governments and developed through consultation with political parties represented in the KP Assembly.
According to Raja, the government was unwilling to accept the party’s demands. He also claimed federal negotiators had indicated that an emergency could be imposed in some parts of KP within 72 hours. That remains PTI’s account of the negotiations, and no such emergency had been formally imposed when the statement was made.
The government has offered a sharply different interpretation of the failed dialogue.
PML-N Parliamentary Secretary for Information Barrister Danyal Chaudhry accused PTI of deliberately sabotaging negotiations and misleading the public. He said the government remained committed to reconciliation but would not permit what he described as chaos and disorder.
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has separately accused senior PTI figures of violating court orders by using government resources and travelling in armed convoys. These are government allegations and should not be presented as independently established findings.
The political confrontation comes as PTI’s long march remains underway.
KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi launched the mobilisation from Gandi Chowk in Lakki Marwat on October 4 after government-opposition negotiations collapsed. The convoy subsequently camped in Karak, with Afridi saying he would announce the next stage of the movement when the march reaches Khairabad on October 8.
The talks had continued into early Sunday morning, with four rounds of drafting failing to bridge disagreements over counterterrorism policy in KP and access to Khan.
The security situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has meanwhile become increasingly intertwined with the political dispute.
Federal Minister Amir Muqam accused the provincial administration of neglecting worsening security conditions while concentrating on political protests. Punjab Information Minister Azma Bukhari similarly criticised Afridi’s priorities and argued that the situation could force the Centre to consider constitutional action.
PTI rejects the government’s characterisation of its position and says it wants peace in the province but opposes unilateral counterterrorism decisions imposed by Islamabad.
The latest statements show that the possibility of renewed negotiations has not disappeared entirely, but the path back to dialogue has become more complicated.
PTI now says consultation with Imran Khan is essential before meaningful political decisions can be made. The federal government, meanwhile, is maintaining pressure over security policy and the conduct of the march.
For businesses and commuters, the immediate impact will depend on how quickly the convoy advances towards Islamabad and what traffic or security restrictions authorities introduce along its route.
The next significant point in the mobilisation is expected on October 8 at Khairabad. Until then, the march is continuing, negotiations remain stalled and no emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has been formally announced.
