PTI leader Naeem Haider Panjutha has clarified that his party’s bigwigs did not skip the first round of talks with the government because of any “lack of confidence”.

“Salman Akram Raja was busy with different cases, Ali Amin Gandapur presided over a meeting on Kurram, Hamid Khan is out of the country, and Omar Ayub had to appear in Peshawar High Court for a case,” he said while appearing on Spotlight with Munizae Jahangir which was aired on Aaj News on Monday.

Many people expressed concerns over PTI’s “intention” after only three leaders out of the seven-member PTI negotiating committee appeared for the meeting. Pictures from the in-camera meeting showed former National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser, Sunni Ittehad Council leader Sahibzada Hamid Raza, and Majlis Wehdat-i-Muslimeen Senator Raja Nasir Abbas represented jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s party.

Of the nine members of the government committee, seven attended the talks, including all three PML-N leaders — Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, PM’s political aide Rana Sanaullah and Senator Irfan Siddiqui. Others present included PPP’s Raja Parvez Ashraf and Naveed Qamar, and Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party leader Aleem Khan.

Panjutha claimed that the PTI had asked the government to start the meeting by evening, however, the latter insisted on conducting it at 11am.

“Omar Ayub wanted to come but he could not,” the PTI leader said and added that demands were the same.

When asked, he confirmed that his party leadership has placed the demand before the committee to allow access to meeting Khan in jail. “The government’s committee has endorsed it and said that we will be informed via the speaker’s office.”

PML-N leader Kheal Das Kohistani, who was also on the show, stated that the PTI should “show seriousness” and matters would be decided in the next meeting. He was of the view that leaders from both sides would avoid making statements that would affect the talks.

JUI-F Senator Kamran Murtaza was also on the show via video link. In response to a question, he said that it was “worrying” to hear that the developments related to the court’s decision surfaced in the media a day earlier to the verdict.

He was speaking in reference to the accountability court’s £190 million case verdict against jailed former prime minister Khan and his wife. The court postponed it till January 6 due to “winter break”.

“It shows cases are used for political purposes. This is a strange perception given to the legal fraternity,” Murtaza said.

At one point, he said that the country has seen an increase in human rights violations in PTI and the incumbent government’s tenure.

Panjutha reiterated that talks would continue after the release of Khan and the other party’s prisoners.

He clarified that PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan did appear in court for a case pertaining to the registration of an FIR on the alleged killing of a PTI leader in the Islamabad march.

“The case timing was 8:30, but Gohar appeared in the court by 9:15am. It did not wait and extended the date by next month despite that our lawyer Latif Khosa sought time.”