Talks with establishment tantamount to 'seeking deal': Fawad Chaudhry

ISLAMABAD: Former federal minister Fawad Chaudhry has expressed surprise at the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) willingness to engage in talks with establishment, saying that this decision was tantamount to ‘deal-seeking’, ARY News reported on Wednesday.

Speaking to an international media outlet, the former minister said that negotiating with the establishment is equivalent to seeking a deal, and that talks will only be successful if held on an equal footing.

Fawad Chaudhry suggested that the PTI should only be talking to opposition parties at this stage, and that negotiations with the government should come later.

He also criticised PTI’s approach to negotiations, saying that seeking a deal with the establishment would be no different from what Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif would do.

When asked about his decision to leave the party, Chaudhry said that he had not left PTI, but was still a part of it. He also referred to his press conference with IPP leaders, saying that the circumstances surrounding it were well-known. He also claimed to have met with PTI founder Imran Khan in jail multiple times.

Regarding resignation from parliament, he said that the decision was made by Imran Khan himself, and that PTI’s popularity was due to two key decisions: resigning from assemblies and dissolving them.

Fawad Chaudhry recently made headlines once again for launching broadsides against the present PTI leadership over the past week.

Chaudhry, who left the PTI in the aftermath of the state’s crackdown against the party following May 9 riots, said earlier this month that the current PTI leadership had badly failed to provide a political strategy.

Speaking at ARY News programme a day earlier, the former minister said that a few individuals took over the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), and newcomers like Raoof Hassan became seniors.

Critisising the current leaders of the PTI, the former federal minister said that Shibli Faraz did not handle the party’s affairs and stay at his house for six months. “Hamid Hassan continued to take care of his farmhouse in Australia,” he added.