Pakistan’s power players are in disarray over whispers of a truce with imprisoned ex-PM Imran Khan. The Sharif administration’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar issued a staunch rebuttal Thursday, quashing claims of any bargain or mercy for the PTI chief amid a flurry of inconsistent insider comments.
‘No deal exists, no softness shown,’ Tarar posted on X, branding contrary narratives ‘utter fabrications.’ He reminded that Khan, jailed since August 2023, is serving 14 years for embezzling $190 million, with further sentences for illicit gifts and anti-terror charges pending from May 9 riots.
Sanaullah’s Aaj TV disclosures lit the fuse: two earnest reconciliation bids post-2024 protests, mediated by Naqvi and Gandapur. Khan balked, his conditions deemed impossible. Labeling him ‘stubborn and unpolitical,’ Sanaullah referenced a foreign contact who secured initial nods from Khan, only for retraction. PTI’s January talk overtures were reportedly scuttled by Khan.
Dawn reported Parliamentary Secretary Danyal Chaudhry’s parallel denial, open to parleys but firm against coercion. PTI’s frets over Khan’s health—Supreme Court docs show right-eye sight at 15%—raised medical evacuation talk, purely health-driven.
This mess exposes PML-N vulnerabilities, as Tarar plays damage control. In Pakistan’s fractious arena, such flip-flops risk eroding trust, potentially fueling PTI’s base and altering the opposition-government standoff trajectory.