Jailed former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan would not confront the military or Army Chief Filed Marshal Asim Munir if freed, one of his closest aides told Reuters, portraying Munir as able to extend a "healing hand" after a legal breakthrough this week.
The comments, which came after Pakistan's top court ordered Imran Khan to be moved to a private hospital for treatment, appeared to mark a significant change in rhetoric by his party, Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI).
In an interview on Wednesday, Imran Khan aide Zulfikar Bukhari, a PTI spokesperson, sent one of the strongest signals so far that the party was willing to reconcile with the military, potentially easing one of the tensest stand-offs in recent Pakistani political history, even as doubts remained whether Imran Khan himself shared that wish.
"If Imran Khan was released tomorrow, hypothetically, he wouldn't do anything that would effectively damage the country," Bukhari said, describing him as "magnanimous."
"That doesn't mean you go loggerheads with the establishment, with the military leader," he said. "You control your own hurt. You curb your own pain. You swallow it for the betterment of your country."
The government and military did not immediately respond to requests for comment about Bukhari's remarks. The military has previously said it does not interfere in politics, while the government says Imran Khan's cases are matters for the courts.
ANALYSTS CAUTION KHAN'S THINKING MAY DIFFER
The Supreme Court ordered authorities on Tuesday to transfer Imrna Khan, 73, from prison to a private hospital within 48 hours — a decision widely interpreted by analysts as a potential first step in lowering tensions between the military and Imran Khan's party, even if only temporarily.
Bukhari called the ruling a "new ray of hope" and said PTI would comply with the court's instruction that its workers and leaders not gather outside the hospital.
As of Thursday afternoon, Imran Khan had still not been transferred and it was unclear if the government would resubmit a challenge that was rejected on technical grounds earlier on Thursday.
Bukhari said there were no talks between PTI and the military.
Analysts cautioned that Imrna Khan's thinking may differ from that of the PTI leadership that has escaped arrest. Much of the party's apparatus has been dismantled by Pakistani authorities and many of its former top officials remain in prison.
It's unclear if "PTI's leadership have the capacity, so long as Imran Khan is in jail, to present a common front in any potential engagement or negotiation with the state", said Michael Kugelman, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council.
PTI TO GO AHEAD WITH PROTESTS IN SEPTEMBER
Party leaders last spoke with Imran Khan eight months ago, said Bukhari.
Despite signs of a careful rapprochement, Bukhari said PTI would still proceed with a nationwide march on Sept.27 regardless of whether Imran Khan was transferred to hospital. It would demand implementation of his court-ordered treatment, access for his family, doctors, lawyers and party leadership, prompt hearings in his cases and, ultimately, his release.
Senior PTI leaders driven into hiding would participate or help organise the mobilisation, he added.
"You'll probably see a lot of leadership come out of hiding," he said. "Even if you don't see them, you'll see them mobilising."
Reuters