Civil society organisations call for mediation between Imran Khan and Shehbaz Sharif government

Pakistan has been witnessing a tug of war between Pakistan Tehreek-E-Insaf and the PML (N)-Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) government.

A collective of civil society organisations of Pakistan has offered to mediate between the Shehbaz Sharif government and former PM Imran Khan-led Opposition and urged for inclusive election to end political uncertainty.

Over a hundred non-government and social organisations including trade unions and women’s rights advocates have appealed to the political parties saying the attitude of the political leaders “leaves little room for dialogue and accommodation”. 

“The political crisis is increasingly becoming intractable, which is accentuating the economic woes of the masses. Before things go out of the hands of everybody, we feel extremely concerned about the kind of existential crises that may have very grave consequences for the nation...In the meanwhile, the civil society have agreed to form an informal Group of Mediators to engage with all political parties to start a reconciliation process,” said the civil society organisations calling for an All Parties Conference. 

Pakistan has been witnessing a tug of war between former Prime Minister Imran Khan-led Pakistan-Tehreek-E-Insaf and the PML (N)-Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) government. Lahore has been witnessing warlike situation as the government’s attempts to arrest Mr Khan has so far remained unsuccessful. As on Monday, Islamabad police has slapped terror charges on PTI Chairperson Khan and twelve of his party colleagues for unleashing riot-like scenes outside the Federal Judicial Complex in Islamabad on Saturday where Mr Khan was expected to appear in the so called “Toshakhana case” involving gifts that the former PM had received. 

Under Pakistani law, public officials can retain gifts that they receive during their tenure if the cost of the items was below Pakistani Rupees 30,000, but more expensive gifts should be returned to the government department in charge of gifts — “toshakhana”. In August 2022, Pakistan Mulsim League (Nawaz) had filed a case against Imran Khan alleging that he had failed to disclose expensive gifts that he received during his tenure as the PM. Mr Khan has been arguing that the case and the police action against him and his followers are parts of an international plot to discredit him because of his support to Russia during the early months of Russia-Ukraine war. 

Prime Minister Imran Khan had flown to Moscow on February 24, 2022 to hold bilateral talks with President Vladimir Putin just hours after, the latter had ordered the so called “special military operation” against Ukraine. Mr Khan who was dislodged in a no-confidence motion that was brought against him by the opposition. He had argued back then that the political move to dislodge him was a “foreign funded conspiracy”. 

The political fight soon deteriorated into street fighting in multiple major cities of Pakistan as Mr Khan launched a series of rallies which has been drawing huge number of people. The government’s continued action against him have therefore added to a volatile situation.