Imran being forced into Benazir, Nawaz-style deal, claims Achakzai

• Demands authorities disclose whereabouts of Sohail Afridi • Mengal says those claiming to be framers of Constitution are ‘trampling it’ • TTAP alliance challenges governor’s rule, emergency before Peshawar High Court PESHAWAR: PTI fou­nder Imran Khan is being forced into an agreement, similar to those given to former prime ministers Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Mahmood Khan Achakzai claimed on Friday. The opposition leader was referring to the arrangements whereby the two former PMs went into self-imposed exile following their respective ousters. Mr Sharif, who was ousted and imprisoned following a military coup by then-army chief Pervez Musharraf, left the country in 2000 following a deal negotiated by Saudi and Lebanese leaders.

Benazir, meanwhile, voluntarily went into self-exile after her party lost the 1997 general elections following her dismissal by then-president Farooq Leg­hari. At the time, her husband Asif Zardari was imprisoned over corruption charges, and was finally released in 2004. “The same is happening today with the PML-N and PPP in government,” Mr Achakzai said at a news conference at the Peshawar High Court (PHC). He was accompanied by Tehreek-i-Tahafuz-Ayin-i-Pakistan (TTAP) leaders Sardar Akhtar Mengal and Allama Raja Nasir Abbas. He said they were in contact with all opposition parties and would soon convene a multi-party conference. Resigning from the assemblies was also an option, he said, adding that they had submitted their demands in response to the offer of negotiations. “Nowhere in the world is a prisoner denied meetings,” he said, calling for the withdrawal of the “wrong amen­dment”, empow­erment of parliament and the formation of an independent commission to ensure transparent…