Pakistan Muslim League-N leader Rana Sanaullah on Friday revealed that the government has not yet received a formal message from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf on initiating the process of dialogue despite the rival party’s claims of having formed a negotiations committee.
In a bid to create an “atmosphere of reconciliation” and defuse prevailing political tensions in the country amid PTI’s civil disobedience threat, the former ruling party and the government reportedly agreed to use parliamentary forum for negotiation.
For the task, the Imran Khan-founded party has also formed a five-member negotiation committee comprising Omar Ayub Khan, Ali Amin Gandapur, Sahibzada Hamid Raza, Salman Akram Raja and Asad Qaiser. However, the party has allegedly failed to formally communicate to the government in this regard.
Criticising the political rival for this reason, the adviser to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Political Affairs said that PTI’s stance towards the government is still the same: “Why should we engage in talks with you?” Sanaullah reiterated that the PML-N has always favoured resolution of issues through talks, recalling that the party even proposed a “Charter of Economy” when it was in the opposition.
He assured that PML-N would not reject any message for dialogue from PTI.
“If PTI reaches out, we will not refuse to engage,” he added, noting that efforts were made to contact PTI before their “final call.”
He, however, clarified that discussions had not included the offer of the release of PTI founder. Commenting on the events of May 9, a matter that remains a bone of contention between the two sides, Sanaullah questioned why PTI had not apologised or admitted their mistakes.
“Why don’t they denounce May 9 incidents? Saying that it was them, not us, on May 9 will only deepen the bitterness,” he said.
