Naveed Ahmad Khan
ISLAMABAD : In wake of the government representatives contacting the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the meeting could not be decided to negotiate over holding the simultaneous elections in the country.
The inside story of the first contact of the nominated representatives of the government with the PTI to discuss the elections across the country came out on Friday.
Former National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser was approached by Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Khawaja Saad Rafiq, and other leaders. It was reported that the government is formally open to speaking with the PTI.
This contact was made when the hearing was going on in the Supreme Court (SC). Asad Qaiser informed PTI Secretary General Asad Umar about the contact of the government representatives.
In terms of negotiating with the incumbent government, PTI leader Asad Umar said, “It is a good thing to communicate, and holding dialogue is a welcoming step.”
Firing a fresh salvo at Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) senior vice president Maryam Nawaz and Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Mr Umar claimed, “They are just resorting to the tricks of delaying the elections”.
After the tweet of Ms Nawaz and Mr Fazl’s press conferences, the meeting between the government and PTI to negotiate became uncertain.
Earlier today, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) emir Sirajul Haq said that holding only the Punjab Assembly elections will lead to protests and civil war.
Speaking to media, Mr Haq said, “PDM chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has also been contacted. He also wanted the country to improve. It will take time to reach the scheduled date of the elections”.
Siraj-ul-Haq said, “Right now, there is a political crisis in the country. Along with the political crisis, there is also an economic and constitutional crisis. There is no case of common people in the National Assembly, Senate and Supreme Court.”
Stressing the need for holding simultaneous elections, Mr Haq said, “The issue of elections is not only for one or two parties. But the 230 million people are concerned about the elections.”
Mr Haq claimed, “The judges of the court are not on the same page. They are also having a tussle among themselves. We do not want conflict. In connection with getting on the same page about holding transparent polls, we are in constant contact with political parties”.
He added, “The talks have been held with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Awami National Party (ANP). The prime minister wanted us to leave this closed street. Imran Khan also gave a positive response”.
“The Supreme Court itself said that the political parties should find a way by themselves until April 27. After Eid, we will speed up this process,” Mr Haq added.