Pakistan: Imran Khan's PTI open communication channels with other parties ahead of polls

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has opened channels of communication with the other parties to take them on board before the upcoming general elections, Dawn News reported on Sunday.

According to the report, the PTI held a meeting of a sub-political committee on Saturday to discuss various issues, including the political situation and the party's strategy.

The sub-political committee endorsed a demand of the Pakistan Peoples Party seeking equal electioneering opportunities and PTI's inclusion in the electoral process for fairness.

In the meeting, the leaders arrived at a consensus that the elections without the participation of the PTI would not be acceptable and the sentiment "reflected right political thinking".

The PTI committee termed the demand from the country's different political parties to provide equal opportunities to all political parties for free, fair, impartial and transparent elections as "a positive trend", reported Pakistan-based News Daily.

The statement said that the PTI was the country's largest and most popular political force in all federating units; therefore, attempts to exclude any political party, including the PTI, from the election process "artificially and unnaturally through any unconstitutional and undemocratic plan under the 'London Agreement' would have very disastrous consequences for democracy".

The meeting also sought immediate issuance of its electoral symbol 'bat' to the PTI and said it was essential for the credibility and transparency of the elections. The meeting underlined that the PTI would "welcome every positive role in ensuring the conduct of free, fair, transparent and immediate elections".

During the meeting, the political committee also discussed in detail the schedule regarding contacts with other political parties to be started from next week.