Former prime minister Imran Khan has stated that talks would be held with those “who hold power”, days after he made a conditional negotiations offer to the army.

“I cannot negotiate with a government that will end with the opening of four constituencies. I will negotiate with those who have the power,” he told reporters in an informal conversation at Adiala Jail on Saturday.

Last month, Khan stated that his party preferred negotiations with the real decision-makers, the military leadership, instead of the incumbent government. The former ruling party has given six-party opposition alliance head Mahmood Khan Achakzai the mandate for negotiations.

“If the military leadership appoints their representative, we will hold conditional talks,” he had said. But so far neither the government nor the military has appointed any representative, PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan confirmed to Aaj News.

He spoke on the same wavelength on Saturday and criticised the incumbent government.

“The biggest U-turn was the one who raised the slogan of vote ko izzat do [giving respect to the vote] and then gave respect to the ‘boot’,” Khan said and added that his party’s first demand was the restoration of his party’s mandate. “I will negotiate within the constitutional framework.”

He reiterated that the PTI has asked Achakzai to negotiate with political parties. The PkMAP leader has been considering meeting the political bigwigs as part of his political negotiations process.

Khan said he was told that calling for a peaceful protest outside the GHQ was wrong. He asked where in the Constitution it was written that protesting in front of the GHQ was prohibited. “There is an undeclared martial law in the country. The military should apologise to me as the injustice was done to me and I was abducted by the Rangers.”

Khan made several allegations against the government and the National Accountability Bureau.

The PTI founder claimed that his Bani Gala residence was worth Rs10 billion “annually” and that he had been bearing all the expenses of the camp office. He admitted that he had made a mistake by saying that he had the “necklace” in his possession. “The police had confiscated all items from my residence on March 18,” the former PM said and alleged that an item worth Rs180 million was inflated to Rs3.18 billion.

NAB had violated its laws by filing two references related to the Toshakhana, he alleged. In the first reference, he said, the value of the necklace was reduced and the same allegation was made in the second reference as well. He claimed that the same “pardon witness” was used in both references. After being acquitted, Khan said he would file cases against the NAB chairman and the investigating officers who gave false statements.

Also, read this

Imran Khan rules out possibility of talks with PPP

Imran Khan’s life in danger, claims wife Bushra Bibi

Decision makers still need to reflect, says Nawaz Sharif

He further claimed that the necklace mentioned in the first reference was actually in their possession and that all valuable items had been moved to a “secure location” before the March 18 raid on his Bani Gala residence. He said he had mistakenly admitted that the necklace was in their possession, leading to his early conviction.

The PTI chief slammed the government, stating that democracy in the world runs on the basis of ethics and that the incumbent lawmakers have “stripped away” all moral authority. He accused them of once again attacking the judiciary, just as they had done in the past.

The former prime minister also alleged that while Nawaz Sharif had access to a refrigerator and other facilities in jail, he had suffered from food poisoning twice in jail due to the lack of a refrigerator as the food would often spoil.