ISLAMABAD: PTI leaders on Monday declared that reconciliation between their party and the government was not possible without including incarcerated party founder Imran Khan in the dialogue process.
Narrating the opposition’s stance on why the talks with the government failed over the weekend, PTI’s secretary general, Salman Akram Raja, presented his party’s demand that Imran be included in any future political dialogue.
“Only [Imran] has the capability to bridge the gulf that has developed between the state and the nation,” Raja said during the press conference held at Khyber Pakhtunkhwa House in Islamabad.
“Imran Khan is very important for us and we had every right to seek his opinion, but it was not allowed,” Raja said.
The PTI leader said that another reason for the failure of the talks was that the government was not willing to pursue a collective strategy against terrorism. Raja told the media that the PTI had entered into the negotiations with sincerity and was serious about addressing the issues.
“Even on the second day, we were hoping that another round of talks would streamline things,” he said.
Describing the reasons for talks failing, Raja said: “We were being pushed to support the government over every action being taken regarding terrorism in KP.”
He added that the PTI had demanded that the government respect the recommendations and opinions of a jirga held by the KP Assembly, in which political parties and stakeholders had participated.
The jirga had recommended solutions to the problem, the opposition delegation had told the government, according to Raja.
The delegation had also asked the government to consider the opinions of tribal leaders, Raja said.
He said the PTI had suggested the agreement should mention that a collective decision would be made regarding terrorism, but the government had said it would not put it down on paper.
“We were told that a unanimous strategy against terrorism would not be developed and it would not be included in the agreement,” he said. Raja said that the government had deliberately complicated the situation.
“It is a fact that the current issues can only be addressed by Imran Khan.
“We had demanded that Imran Khan and his opinion should be included in all issues, which is why we demanded a meeting of party leaders with him,” Raja said.
The two rounds of talks between the government and the opposition held on Friday and Saturday did not yield positive results, with counterterrorism policies and access to Imran emerging as two major sticking points.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, who was part of the process, on Sunday singled out KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi for the failure of talks, saying that he changed the agreement.
Separately, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the PTI representatives came for talks but were unwilling to abandon their “double standards and hypocrisy”.
For its part, the PTI said it wanted immediate access to party founder Imran for consultations, and even agreed to forgo other demands for this. However, the government declined to make access to Imran part of the proposed agreement, the opposition party claimed.
Addressing the failed talks, Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Amir Muqam said on Monday that the government’s delegation had suggested that both sides “be on the same page” about terrorism.
Following the failed talks, the PTI went ahead with its protest march on Sunday despite warnings from the federal government.
