Govt has no mandate to negotiate: Achakzai

ISLAMABAD: Tehreek Tahafuz Aiyeen-e-Pakistan head Mehmood Khan Achakzai Friday questioned negotiations with a government having no legitimate mandate.

“We shall pray for the success of negotiations but prayers are not answered when the matter is like this,” he remarked.

He alleged during a news conference here along with MWM Chairman Senator Allama Nasir Abbas Jafri that the ‘fake’ government of Shehbaz Sharif was deliberately leading the country towards a civil war.

The veteran nationalist politician claimed that Shehbaz Sharif was a friend but was prepared to become prime minister of General Pervez Musharraf.

Achakzai, who is also the Chairman Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, said everyone knew the situation Pakistan was going through, claiming the unconstitutional, undemocratic rulers had no clue or concern about it.

He lamented that 20 to 30 people were killed in Pakistan every day but there was a ban on the pen and speaking in the assembly.

In these circumstances, he regretted that the things had reached the point of bombing Afghanistan. He underscored the need to convene an all-parties conference and the army and journalists should also be invited.

“It is our duty to sit down and not let this region become a battlefield; fortunately, the great superpower China is our neighbor and friend, which also has good relations with Afghanistan. Involving other regional states, we should sit down and save this region from war. Afghanistan should be made a cradle of peace instead of a stronghold of conflict,” he noted.

MWM supremo Allama Raja Nasir Abbas Jafri said Pakistan could only run under the rule of the Constitution whereas, at present, it was in an economic, moral and political crisis and the government was increasing its problems with each passing day.

He said all institutions had been destroyed, the judiciary paralyzed, independence of the judiciary compromised and the judiciary placed under the administration’s supervision.

The structure of the Constitution, he claimed, had been destroyed; constitutional amendments were tantamount to playing with the country, while Pakistan was on the verge of destruction.

“Earlier, our enemy was India. Now, a new enemy has been created. Our brotherly Islamic country, Afghanistan, is being made an enemy. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Ishaq Dar have not even visited there once. Our culture is the same. Why are they creating enmity?” he wondered.

Meanwhile, the central spokesperson of Pakistan Muslim League (N) and Senior Provincial Minister of Punjab, Marriyum Aurangzeb, has expressed deep regret over the recent statement made by Mahmood Khan Achakzai. She stated that such baseless remarks were not expected from a senior and respected politician like Mahmood Achakzai.

Marriyum Aurangzeb said that Mahmood Achakzai himself is a witness to the fact that Shehbaz Sharif has consistently refused to betray his elder brother, Nawaz Sharif. History bears testimony to Shehbaz Sharif rejecting the offer of the prime ministership three times by choosing loyalty to his brother over personal ambition.