Nawaz Sharif, establishment on board with dialogue offer to PTI: Rana Sanaullah

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif and the establishment are all on board with offering talks to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to resolve political issues through dialogue, senior PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah said.

Speaking on a television programme Aitraz Hai, Rana Sanaullah said the objective of senior political leaders was to sit at one table and resolve issues through negotiations rather than confrontation. He said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had already offered dialogue three times, but the response from PTI was negative. He added that the prime minister raised the issue of talks for the fourth time during a cabinet meeting.

Rana Sanaullah said President Asif Ali Zardari was also in agreement and had consistently stressed reconciliation, while PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari had made a clear and firm statement on the issue on December 27. He said the political crisis had been ongoing since 2011, spanning multiple phases between 2011 and 2018 and again from 2022 to 2025.

He accused the PTI founder, Imran Khan, of not believing in dialogue and being unwilling to sit with political opponents or seek a political solution. According to Sanaullah, this attitude had created difficulties, primarily for PTI itself. He said even PTI leaders privately wanted political issues to be resolved through dialogue.

Referring to past events, Rana Sanaullah said Imran Khan had refused to attend a parliamentary meeting after the Pulwama incident because he did not want to exchange greetings, despite efforts by the then army chief to persuade him. He said political disagreements sometimes cross lines, but campaigns on social media against state institutions and their leadership were unacceptable.

He said supporting narratives hostile to the armed forces, similar to those promoted by Indian media, could not be justified, adding that PTI could not then complain of harsh treatment. He advised PTI to review its conduct or refrain from making such complaints.

Rana Sanaullah warned against violent protests, saying past attempts on May 9 and November 26 had already shown their consequences. He said failed street movements and wheel-jam strikes would only cause political damage to PTI and further legal trouble for its workers.

He stressed that dialogue between political parties was the only path to positive and lasting results, adding that negotiations were not the mandate of the DG ISPR, whose role was limited to speaking within the law as a spokesperson of a disciplined institution.

He said the prime minister’s offer of dialogue would have been made with party approval and after taking relevant stakeholders into confidence. He added that no political party should oppose dialogue in principle.

Commenting on parliamentary matters, Rana Sanaullah said the issue related to Mahmood Khan Achakzai had been taken to court and details had been submitted to the Speaker’s Office. He expressed hope that decisions regarding the opposition leader would be made in the upcoming sessions of the National Assembly or Senate.

He said Shehbaz Sharif was currently the prime minister of the coalition government, while the future leadership of the PPP rested with Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari. He added that there was nothing objectionable if PPP workers raised slogans in support of Bilawal Bhutto, noting that the leader of the house would ultimately be decided by whoever secured a majority in the next general elections.