The government on Saturday rejected Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan’s invitation for talks for early elections, arguing that threats and talks cannot go together.
Addressing a joint press conference with Federal Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, Railway Minister Khawaja Saad Rafiq said that he should sit with us for unconditional negotiations.
The former prime minister, who has been calling for elections since his ouster by a no-confidence motion in April, invited the PDM-led government to discuss the possibility of early elections and warned that Pakistan’s nearly 66 percent will have to vote. If the government dissolves the assemblies in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, elections will be held.
It is they (PTI) who need negotiations, not us. “They start talking about negotiations and then avoid talking about it,” Rafiq said, adding, “Negotiations are part of the political process and complex issues are resolved when both sides listen to each other.”
He said that the dissolution of the assemblies was not a proud act for the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN)-led government. We want the assemblies to complete their constitutional term.
If Imran Khan is serious then he should understand the threats and talks are mutually exclusive.
The minister added that the allies of the government have serious reservations about the talks with the PTI.
He said the government would hold unofficial talks with the PTI but the party was told that the PDM would decide whether they wanted to hold talks.
Meanwhile, the interior minister warned Imran Khan against offering talks with threats and asked him to reconsider his attitude.
Sanaullah said, “He [Khan] will not gain anything from his threatening behavior.
Earlier today, while talking to the media, Sanaullah said that parties have to work together in politics because there can be no progress without discussions and negotiations.
However, he said that the ruling coalition has no backdoor links with Chief Minister Punjab Pervez Elahi and in case of any talks with the leader of Pakistan Muslim League Quaid-e-Azam (PML-Q).
Moving on, Saad Rafiq said that it was Imran Khan who mocked Shehbaz Sharif’s Charter of Economy and subjected him to the taunts of NRO (National Reconciliation Ordinance), despite the fact that the Muslim League (N) ) was part of the legislative process when he was in power. The opposition
The Railways Minister said that he (Khan) was the first Prime Minister who used to leave his seat to come to Parliament so as not to meet the opposition.
The constitutional term of Imran Khan ended in a constitutional and democratic manner.
