In 1st sign of political reconciliation, jailed Khan-backed chief minister meets Pakistani Premier Sharif

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) – Pakistan's jailed ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party made a maiden contact with the coalition government led by Premier Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday, in a first sign of political reconciliation between arch-rivals after the Feb. 8 general elections.

Khan-backed chief minister of northwestern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, Ali Amin Gandapur, met Sharif at the Prime Minister’s Office in the capital Islamabad with both calling the rare meeting “positive” and agreed to work together.

Addressing a news conference along with Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal after the meeting, Gandapur stressed on the need to solve public issues "together" and the need for the federal and provincial governments to deliver.

“We had good talks. It was very positive. He assured that he would fulfill his promise and would not lie,” Gandapur said.

He said he requested Sharif to facilitate his meeting with Khan, who has been languishing in a jail in the northeastern garrison city of Rawalpindi after being convicted in a series of cases.

“I told him that political engagement with Khan is very necessary to resolve political issues. He (Sharif) was very positive and told me plainly he would make my meeting possible so I can complete consultations regarding the Senate election,” Gandapur maintained.

Iqbal, for his part, expressed his positivity on the talks between Sharif and Gandapur, saying that the premier had reassured him that his government will work together with the KP government to address the public issues.

The PTI whose affiliated independent candidates won the highest number of seats in the Feb. 8 elections, has been complaining about alleged rigging, and calling the Sharif government "illegal."

The Election Commission rejects rigging charges.

Despite winning the highest number of seats, the PTI could not stitch a coalition, leaving space open for the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz of thrice-elected Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and center-left Pakistan People's Party to form the government for a five-year term.