Govt sets conditions for talks with Imran Khan

ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Wednesday asserted that negotiations with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan were only possible if the latter “apologise to the nation for the May 9 riots”, ARY News reported.

Speaking to a private news channel, the finance minister said that talks will PTI chairman will only take place when the latter “admits to his mistakes and vows not to repeat them”.

Ishaq Dar noted that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif will also have to be persuaded for negotiations with Imran Khan. “Nawaz Sharif says talks cannot be held with preparators of violence,” he said.

The minister further said that enemy wants to create chaos and anarchy in the country. “Investigation into May 9 incident is underway and the elements involved in the incident will be brought to the justice,” he vowed.

“Example should be made so incidents like May 9 do not happen again,” Ishaq Dar said, adding that evidence have indicated that Imran Khan was involved in planning the riots. However, Dar said, the government does not believe in political victimisation.

In response to a question, he said that if Nawaz Sharif’s daughter can be arrested then anyone’s wife also as “no one is above the law”. “Women involved in May 9 incidents cannot get relief”, he added.

He further said that Imran Khan did not play any role for the betterment of the country during his tenure. “The country had to face economic difficulties owing to the wrong decisions of PTI chief,” he added.

Meanwhile, Ishaq Dar – in response to another question – said that the incumbent government has fulfilled all the conditions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

“The lender has raised questioned over the country’s political stability,” he said, adding that the international financial institutions were keeping an eye on Pakistani politics.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) – on the instruction of party chairman Imran Khan – constituted a seven-member negotiation committee for talks with the incumbent government over elections.

The committee comprises party vice chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Pervez Khattak, Asad Qaiser, Hammad Azhar, Haleem Adil Sheikh, Murad Saeed and Aon Abbas Buppi.

However, the federal government rejected to hold political talks with Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

Federal Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique, while talking to journalists, said that the government is not going to hold talks with PTI.

He said that the government had created an environment for holding talks with PTI but Imran Khan failed the negotiations. He said that he favoured to hold dialogues despite being a political opponent of PTI.

“When the schedule of the meeting was finalised with PTI, Imran Khan asked to shut the doors for talks. We created the environment for negotiations but he failed it.”

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Khawaja Saad Rafique said that Imran Khan formed a dialogue committee but who would hold talks as the government is not going to hold any negotiations with them?