Agencies
Adviser to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah on Friday said that a letter had been sent to Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Mahmood Khan Achakzai, entreating the latter to respond and to meet Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to discuss “issues on constitutional positions” amid a breakdown in communication between the government and the opposition following the administrative shakeup in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
Earlier in the day, Achakzai stated that the premier could come to the opposition’s office “and have tea with me or give me an invitation and wherever he wants to have negotiations I will go”.
The opposition leader added, “Or I can go to him at the prime minister’s house and give him an invitation.”
Achakzai also said, “Discussions will not take place like this.
The way you have made fun of Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and our people of the Tehreek-e-Tahafuz-e-Aain-e-Pakistan.”
Speaking to reporters later on the opposition leader’s comments, Sanaullah said that there was “no issue of ego or stubbornness in this”, referring to PM Shehbaz meeting Achakzai.
“This type of talk that come here or come there, it doesn’t change anything. What is the rationale of this?”
Sanaullah said that when the opposition leader meets PM Shehbaz, they could together discuss the issues which should be discussed constitutionally.
A day earlier, Achakzai said that political dialogue required a meeting with PTI founder Imran Khan. He also recalled that Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman had met the prime minister in connection with the issue.
The opposition had asked the government to ensure that the prime minister personally extended an invitation for negotiations, he said. “Negotiations cannot take place in an atmosphere where the process itself is being mocked,” he said. The remarks came as the government and the opposition remain at loggerheads regarding the governance of K-P after President Asif Ali Zardari approved the imposition of emergency and governor’s rule in the province on October 11 on the advice of PM Shehbaz and following approval by the federal cabinet.