ISLAMABAD: The government on Thursday rejected the PTI’s latest offer of talks, saying both sides lack a common agenda to start talks as both sides want early elections while at the same time. But they will not back down from their position of holding elections.
Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Maryam Aurangzeb while talking to The Express Tribune also clarified that there are no overt or covert talks with the former ruling party and any speculations about such talks are mere speculations. .
Commenting on the PTI’s willingness to talk to the federal government on the next elections, the government spokesperson said that there can be no talks when there are preconditions attached to it.
The minister was referring to the PTI’s demand that the government should first announce the date of the general elections and then both sides could sit together and decide the schedule for the next elections.
Recently, the PTI has reportedly made another condition that it may accept elections in the coming August or September if the government shares an economic plan.
PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry tweeted on Thursday, “Certainly if the government announces early elections, we are ready to discuss changes in the election framework and ECP.”
Maryam, however, stressed that elections would be held after the remaining constitutional term of the government was completed.
“For talks, there should be a common agenda item; the government and PTI don’t have a common agenda for talks at the moment. Imran wants elections, the government doesn’t. What is left to talk about?”
The PTI’s latest conditional offer comes as its ‘willingness to negotiate’, after PTI chairman Imran Khan announced that his party would quit the “corrupt system”. And it can either resign collectively or dissolve Punjab and Khyber. Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assemblies.
Currently, the PTI leadership is mulling over its options and holding back-to-back party meetings to reach a consensus on whether it should resign, dissolving two of the four provincial assemblies. And above all, when it should be done.
The PTI’s offer of talks comes a few weeks after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif extended an olive branch to the PTI chief, but there was no response from the former ruling party.
Although the prime minister has repeatedly offered talks, including when he was Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly (NA), Imran has always shunned such offers and refused to even shake hands with his opponents. Lest it “normalise corruption”.
For years, Imran has avoided all opportunities to sit down with his political rivals as he has drawn clear battle lines against them over decades of corruption and treachery.
Apart from Maryam Nawaz, many other members of the ruling coalition, referring to the constant stand of Prime Minister Shehbaz and the coalition parties that the elections will be held on time, said that it would be difficult to hold snap polls without a new census. Demarcation will now be practiced and maintained. According to the current situation of flood affected areas.
A senior member of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), requesting anonymity, said the PTI chairman’s acceptance of his terms before sitting down for talks would be tantamount to giving him victory already. .
He further said that if PTI gets the date of the next elections, there will be no point in the talks. Besides, he added, agreeing and announcing a date for the next elections would weaken the government’s position and give the other side a ‘perceived victory’.
A few days before PTI’s long march, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s spokesperson Fahad Hussain had said that the government is very clear that the elections will be held on time.
He predicted that Imran would be sorely disappointed if they were expecting him to pressure the government into announcing early elections.
PTI’s long march ended without a date for the election as Imran decided that he would not march towards the federal capital but resign en masse.
The PTI later added the option of dissolving the assemblies but did not make a final decision on when it wanted to proceed.
