PMLN has approached opposition for talks, confirms Achakzai

ISLAMABAD: The head of Tehreek Tahafuz Aiyeen-e-Pakistan, Mehmood Khan Achakzai, has confirmed the offer of negotiations by the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) and said that there was no other way to move the country forward except talks with the government.

During an informal conversation with journalists here, Achakzai, who is the chairman of Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, noted that for the first time in the country’s history, an alliance was formed that wants the supremacy of Constitution, in which all schools of thought including Baloch, Pashtun, Shia and Sunni are represented.

“If the politicians come together for the supremacy of Constitution, then unconstitutional forces will retreat,” he maintained.

He said that if the Constitution remains in force for 10 years in the country, then it will be on the path of development, whereas Army Chief General Asim Munir also talks about the supremacy of the Constitution.

“All the political leadership, including Nawaz Sharif, is on the same page with regard to the Constitution, I have met Rana Sanaullah. There is no other way to take the country forward except through negotiations,” he emphasized.

To a question about PTI’s stance on talks with the rulers, he said the PTI should have given a positive response to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s offer of negotiations. He explained that the PTI founder chairman has given him the authority to negotiate with the government.

Achakzai contended that apart from Imran Khan, PTI leadership’s opposition to negotiations does not matter.

On the other hand, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan hailed the development but expressed ignorance about the formation of the government committee for negotiations.

“We have not been told by anyone but the formation of a government committee for negotiations is a good thing. The authority to negotiate on our behalf with the government has been given to Mahmood Achakzai,” he said.

Gohar said that if Achakzai brings suggestions after having talked to the government committee, then his party would consider them.

Imran Khan, he also said, has given a go-ahead to the Tehreek chief weeks ago for this purpose and now it was the discretion of the government when and on what basis, it initiates negotiations. However, amid reports of an “indirect dialogue” with the PTI, the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) leaders strongly opposed talks with their political nemesis.

Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal linked the holding of dialogue with the PTI to an apology for staging last year’s May 9 violent protests that saw attacks on public properties, including military installations, following the party founder Imran Khan’s arrest in a corruption case.

Speaking to journalists after a consultative meeting of PMLN leadership, the planning minister claimed that the PTI, in collaboration with India, had “anti-Pakistan” resolution passed in the US House of Representatives that sought a probe into the alleged irregularities in the February 8 general elections. Criticising the PTI, the minister accused the party of causing more damage than terrorists and questioned the possibility of dialogue with such individuals.

Iqbal further said that the deposed premier was “enjoying five-star facilities in the jail”, adding that they also faced imprisonment but never complained. “He [Imran] wants NRO [National Reconciliation Ordinance] which he will not get,” Iqbal said while referring to the deal granted by former president Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf to close down corruption cases against his political rivals.

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif also opposed talks with the former ruling party, saying he was not in favour of any such dialogue. Responding to the report that PMLN had purportedly approached Achakzai, Khawaja Asif, speaking to journalists, said that he wasn’t part of the “team assigned to talk to PkMAP chairman”. When asked whether talks should be held with the former ruling party, the PMLN stalwart said: “I’m not in favour of negotiations.”

Previously, the ruling parties had extended an olive branch to Imran Khan’s party several times but to no avail, as the latter stated he will hold talks with those who wield “real power in the country”.

Meanwhile, talking in Geo News programme ‘Naya Pakistan’, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUIF) Secretary General Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri said the JUIF chief had taken a stand in politics due to which politics revolved around him.

President Asif Ali Zardari is one of Maulana Fazl’s old friends, so he came to visit him. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also came and was welcomed.

However, it has come to light from the media that they wanted the JUIF to be a part of the government, Haideri said, adding: “This offer was not put in front of me. We were all present in the meeting, then they also had a separate meeting, so I don’t know what was expressed there. All these political leaders coming to Maulana Fazl indicates that they do not have solution to the country’s problems.

“This meeting was the first opportunity to bridge the differences with the government, and if this series continues and issues are discussed, it will be seen as to what extent we can cooperate on these issues,” Haideri said.

As far as legislation is concerned, there was a meeting between the PTI and JUIF, which focused on the same thing that if legislation phase comes, they should cooperate with each other, he said. “We want the existing set-up to be dissolved. Until there are fair elections, the right representatives of the nation cannot come,” the JUIF leader said.