ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has accused Murad Saeed of sabotaging negotiations between the federal government and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), saying former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister Sohail Afridi was not making the decisions.
Speaking during a Senate session on Tuesday, Naqvi said the government had made six amendments to the draft agreement and sent it to Sohail Afridi, who forwarded it to Murad Saeed, resulting in the collapse of the negotiations.
“Murad Saeed sabotaged the entire negotiation process,” the interior minister said, adding that PTI should have made it clear from the outset if its representatives did not have the authority to make decisions.
Naqvi said members of Sohail Afridi’s own cabinet were blaming Murad Saeed for the outcome. He added that he made a final phone call at 11:45pm, urging the other side to resolve the outstanding issues, but no agreement could be reached.
He alleged that PTI was unwilling to abandon its rigid position and that a few people had taken a wrong step that had harmed everyone involved.
‘No constitutional violation in KP emergency’
Defending the imposition of emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Naqvi said the government had acted in accordance with the Constitution and had not violated any constitutional provision.
He said the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) had examined every relevant clause before proceeding with the decision.
The interior minister challenged critics to identify any constitutional provision that had been violated, insisting that both the emergency and governor’s rule had been imposed within the constitutional framework.
He said the option of imposing emergency or governor’s rule in KP had been available on November 26 and even earlier, but the government had continued to engage with PTI before taking action.
Naqvi said the government had contacted Barrister Gohar on October 10 and asked him to suggest amendments to paragraph four of the draft.
Allegations of links with banned TTP
The interior minister alleged that several PTI members had links with the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), adding that the government would provide evidence when required.
“We will prove it and show the evidence whenever asked,” he said.
Naqvi also claimed that 80 per cent of those involved in the current wave of terrorism were coming from Afghanistan.
He said the issue of ending terrorism had been part of discussions in parliament from the first day of negotiations. He added that Asad Qaiser had assured him that PTI would support Pakistan in the fight against terrorism.
However, Naqvi said he had told Qaiser that the KP government’s position on combating terrorism differed from that assurance.
Criticism of KP government
Naqvi said the federal government had attended the funerals of people killed in terrorist attacks, while representatives of the provincial government had often failed to attend.
He said police officers and security personnel were sacrificing their lives, but Sohail Afridi would deliver speeches against them the following day.
The interior minister said the government had tried to resolve the differences through negotiations before taking action in the province. He maintained that the decision on emergency was taken under the Constitution after attempts to reach an agreement failed.