Rejecting reports of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) initiating any “indirect” dialogue, party Chairman Gohar Ali Khan on Sunday said there has been no headway on any talks with the ruling party.
“The PTI neither offered to engage in talks [with the PMLN] nor sought any favors,” he told journalists in Islamabad. To a question on recent meetings between PTI MNAs and National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, he said the only issues discussed pertained to the functioning of the Lower House.
Over the past week, there has been extensive speculation over talks between the PTI and PMLN, especially after the leader of an opposition coalition that includes the PTI said he had commenced dialogue with Rana Sanaullah.
Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) Chairman Mahmood Khan Achakzai, who also heads the Tehreek Tahafuz Aiyeen-e-Pakistan coalition, told journalists in media he was negotiating with the PMLN. “All the political leadership, including Nawaz Sharif, is on the same page with regard to the Constitution,” he said, adding he had met aide to the P.M. Rana Sanaullah. “There is no other way to take the country forward except through negotiations,” he said.
According to Achakzai, the PTI had tasked him with negotiating with all political forces. To a question, he said the PTI should have welcomed Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s offer of talks, adding the only voice within the PTI whose opinion mattered was that of Imran Khan. The incarcerated PTI founder, however, has repeatedly rejected any potential talks with the PMLN, accusing it of stealing his party’s mandate in the Feb. 8 general elections. Instead, Khan has persistently sought talks with the security establishment, claiming it is the only institutions with any “real” power in the country.
There also appears to be confusion within the PMLN over any potential talks with the PTI. Sanaullah has maintained his support for the dialogue process but has stressed his talks with Achakzai did not include any discussion on the PTI. However, senior PMLN leaders and federal ministers Ahsan Iqbal and Khawaja Asif have both opposed the option, maintaining it cannot proceed until the PTI apologizes for the May 9 riots.
On Saturday, PMLN President Nawaz Sharif issued a statement calling on all political forces to join hands and sit together to steer the country out of prevailing crises.