Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Mehmood Khan Achakzai did not explicitly rule out talks with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday but said he was not ready to hold parleys at the Prime Minister’s House or Office or the Speaker’s Chamber.
“The prime minister is illegitimate. The mandate of millions of Pakistanis … Harsh words are rising to my lips; that is why I am silent.
“I am ready to sit anywhere in Pakistan, under any tree. I am ready to visit the house of any party [leader]. But I will not go to the speaker house [sic], the Prime Minister’s House or the prime minister’s chamber,” he said while speaking to the media at Parliament House after a meeting of the opposition leaders.
Achakzai’s remarks were in response to a question about the prime minister’s adviser, Rana Sanaullah, inviting him and PTI Chairperson Barrister Gohar to hold a sitting with the premier. The reporter asked him why the meeting was not taking place.
In a video clip shared by the opposition alliance Tehreek-i-Tahaffuz Ayeen-i-Pakistan (TTAP), Achakzai also said the meeting with the prime minister would take place after a meeting with jailed former premier and PTI founder Imran Khan.
The possibility of a meeting between the prime minister and Achakzai is being seen as a means to defuse the current political crisis in the country, with the PTI’s planned Oct 4 protest march to demand Imran’s release becoming the new bone of contention between the party and the Centre.
The TTAP, which is headed by Achakzai and also includes the PTI, has announced that it would join the protest. And as the PTI remains resolute to go ahead with the march, federal ministers have warned that the Centre would have no other option but to impose the governor’s rule or emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa — where Imran’s party is in the government — in light of the security situation in the province and the PTI’s protest call on Oct 4.
For its part, the opposition party has warned the government of dire consequences if such a decision is imposed.
PM Shehbaz had also extended an invitation to the NA opposition leader to sit together for consultations on the issues of national importance and those related to the PTI before leaving for the US. Earlier, the premier also invited Achakzai on Sept 11 for mandatory consultation on the appointment of a new chief election commissioner.
Opposition leaders’ meeting
Achakzai and other opposition leaders held a meeting in the Senate opposition leader’s chamber earlier in the day.
The meeting was also attended by Senate Opposition Leader Allama Raja Nasir Abbas, Barrister Gohar, PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja, former senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, former NA speaker Asad Qaiser, NA Chief Whip Aamer Mahmood Kamboh, TTAP spokesperson Akhundzada Hussain Ahmad Yusufzai, and other opposition leaders.
The consultations regarded the country’s overall political situation, the long march, and constitutional and parliamentary affairs.
Opposition ready for dialogue but ‘without conditions’: Senate opposition leader
Senate Opposition Leader Allama Raja Nasir Abbas called for reconciliation and dialogue to resolve the country’s political crisis, saying his side was ready for talks, but without preconditions.
Speaking to the media today, he said, “This judiciary is ours, all these matters are ours, and we are ready to discuss them.”
He also stressed that the protest in KP would be peaceful even when met with violence, and that “no false narrative” should be created against the protest.
“I have said before as well that when we leave from there, there will be no weapons in our hands … We will carry the Quran in our pockets,” he said. “We know the value of human life.”
“An official of the administration or a member of the security forces is also our brother. Who would want to shed the blood of his own brothers?”
He also rejected claims of cowardice, saying that the “cowards” were those who had placed containers and dug up roads.
Abbas called for a move towards reconciliation and dialogue in order to improve the country, saying, “Let’s return people their rights and, God willing, make Pakistan a truly constitutional and legal country. Make it a country of the people and a representative of their aspirations.”
“We are fully prepared to hold dialogue and correct the situation, but this will be without any conditions. If anyone thinks that they will hold a dagger of conditions at our necks, then, such a thing will never be accepted,” he said.
Regarding the proposed protest, Abbas said the people of KP had “decided to adopt a democratic approach by staging peaceful protests and a long march”.
He said the government should have “assured the protesters of the protection of their lives and property, provided them with facilities, and, while recognising the right to peaceful protest, designated the routes”.
“But, on the contrary, what did the government do? Even before the protests began, containers were placed to seal Islamabad, roads were dug up and nails were hammered into the routes,” he said, claiming that this was the behaviour of “scared people”.
Stressing that the Constitution guaranteed the rights of the Pakistani people, Abbas said peaceful protests, sit-ins and long marches were part of democratic politics.
“Protests can have many forms and objections can also have many methods. It can be in the form of a press conference, a seminar, a demonstration, a sit-in or a long march. This is prevalent throughout the world,” he said.
“When you talk about protests, objections, sit-ins or long marches, some people call it an attack. No, this is not an attack,” he added.
The opposition leader also criticised the arrests of protesters under the Maintenance of Public Order law, terming it a completely illegal practice.
He alleged that the country was facing worsening political, economic and law-and-order crises.
“Unrest is increasing day by day and the law and order situation has become extremely poor, which proves that the government has completely failed to establish peace,” he said.
“The country’s economic situation is also extremely bad and the rulers have proved incapable of managing the economy. Similarly, the political crisis is continuously intensifying and the government does not have the ability to resolve political issues. In short … the current system, judiciary and all other state institutions have completely collapsed,” he added.
Abbas also criticised that “bloodshed is being carried out in the name of peace”, stressing that peace could not be established through bullets.
On Imran Khan, Abbas said, “The only personality who can take Pakistan out of the current crisis is Imran Khan, whom the people trust.”
“He will go to Balochistan, where Akhtar Mengal and other leaders will be with him. He will sit with the people and talk to them and convince them. What you cannot do through the force of bullets can be done through dialogue because the people trust him,” he added.
Abbas said the welfare of the people should be the state’s top priority.
“Full attention should be given to the state’s agreement with the people that it will protect their lives, property and honour,” he said, also stressing the need to provide people with rights, services and protection of their interests.
‘Off-the-record talks’
In the morning, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah said that the federal government and PTI were engaged in “off-the-record talks” regarding PTI’s planned protest on Oct 4.
Sanaullah made the remarks while appearing in Geo News’ morning show “Geo Pakistan”.
Sanaullah said that the decision on the proposed march rested with PTI’s senior leadership, “with whom off-the-record consultation is ongoing”.
“So let us see, even if they do not postpone it, we have arrangements in place to stop them,” Sanaullah warned.
He likened the PTI’s march to a “provincial government attacking the capital” in an apparent reference to the PTI-led government in KP.
“If a political party or a private organisation stages a protest, […] but for a government to attack […] it cannot be tolerated under any circumstances,” he held.
“The law will be enacted in full force, and they (PTI) will be barred from entering Islamabad,” he added.
Responding to a question about governor’s rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sanaullah on Thursday said that the option was “on the table”.
Sanaullah further clarified that the federal government was in talks with coalition parties about imposing governor’s rule in KP. He added that the final decision rested upon the federal government and the Senate, adding that it would only come into effect with parliament’s approval.
Sanaullah alleged that the KP chief minister had not been performing his functions as the province’s chief executive.
“For the past two months, he has not done anything, nothing about development or counter-terrorism efforts or for the welfare of people […] in fact, all he has done is talk about marching to Islamabad and toppling the federal government.
“They want to take ladders to Islamabad to secure the release of a certain someone,” he added.
Sanaullah reiterated that if a province is “engaged in such illegal and unconstitutional activities, then the Centre has the right to declare emergency or governor rule and assume power”.
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