Adviser to Prime Minister on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah on Wednesday reiterated the government’s willingness to engage with the opposition, calling on the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to end its long march towards Islamabad and resume talks.
Speaking at a press conference in Islamabad, he said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had also urged the PTI, opposition parties and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to avoid actions that could fuel political instability and instead settle differences through dialogue.
Sanaullah maintained that political objectives could not be achieved by creating unrest, disrupting state institutions or placing pressure on the state.
He accused the PTI of encouraging confrontation, intolerance and inflammatory rhetoric, and called on its leadership to prioritise national interests over party considerations by withdrawing the march. He further alleged that the KP government was using provincial resources to facilitate the PTI’s march despite a court order.
According to him, the province was already grappling with serious security challenges, yet its government was concentrating on political mobilisation.
The adviser said the federal government had made several attempts to persuade the PTI to abandon confrontation and return to negotiations.
Turning to the security situation, Sanaullah said the government had a clear strategy for combating terrorism and would continue implementing it with determination. Intelligence-based operations against militants, he added, would persist until the threat was brought under control.
He also criticised the KP government for what he described as inadequate efforts against terrorism, saying the federal government had so far prioritised dialogue while expecting the provincial administration to fulfil its responsibilities in counterterrorism.
Sanaullah said the federal government remained prepared to contribute to national efforts if the provincial government maintained its current position.
He also claimed that the PTI march had not attracted the level of public participation anticipated by its organisers.
PTI leaders, however, have maintained that the march is peaceful and being conducted within the limits of the Constitution.
