PM should clarify his intentions behind inviting PTI to APC: Qureshi

LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said that till today the party’s decision was not to participate in the All Party Conference (APC); “however, the federal government needs to clarify whether it wants reconciliation or conflict before inviting us.”

“Our party was ready for both reconciliation and conflict. Hence, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif needs to decide before inviting us, whether he wants to level allegations against the PTI or extend an invitation with bona fide intentions. The PM needs to clarify that he wants to take political revenge or invite the PTI to participate in the APC, as right now, cases were being filed against our party leaders and political opponents were being jailed.

Hence, two things were not possible at the same time,” Qureshi said while addressing a press conference, here on Saturday.

He further said that he was surprised and saddened by the indifference of the prime minister, saying that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government should give an account of Rs 471 billion; “we are ready to give the details, but was he ready to give the details of money spent on the Punjab police and the extra-judicial killings when he was Punjab chief minister.”

He continued that after the removal of the PTI government through a conspiracy, an “imported” government was imposed on the nation nine months ago; “we need to analyse whether has terrorism increased or decreased in these nine months”. “As per our assessments, incidents of terrorism have gone up and some experts were saying that it has increased by over 52 percent. This coalition government has to answer for this and not the PTI,” he added.

“The change in the focus of the government and its priorities caused the rise in the incidents of terrorism. The nation longs for an end to terrorism and economic growth, but these things were not in the government’s priorities; the rulers’ agenda was personal involving the closure of corruption cases filed against them whereas the PTI’s agenda was national,” he said.

Qureshi also castigated the government for accusing the PTI of holding talks with the outlaw terrorist organisation Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), saying that in 2013 former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was the first person to agree to hold talks with the TTP.

“When these talks failed, a successful operation was launched and the terrorists were pushed against the wall. The people and the stakeholders developed a consensus to end terrorism and subsequently, this helped in reducing the terror attacks in the country. In our tenure, a visible decline in terror-related violence was seen,” he added.

He highlighted the PTI government’s initiatives, both at the local and global levels, to control terrorism and subsequently bring peace and stability to the region. He averred that after a change in the situation in Afghanistan, the PTI government started to look for other options to bring peace to the region; “at the time of the formation of the Taliban government, many experts predicted that Indian and RAW influence would have diminished while the new government in Afghanistan was saying that they would not allow its land to be used against Pakistan.”

Hence, he said, after developing consensus among the civilian and military ranks, the negotiations with the TTP was started in good faith; “an attempt was made to end bloodbath, bring peace and improve the economy”.

He pointed out that the opposition leader at that time (Shehbaz Sharif) also agreed to engage the TTP.

He maintained that the PTI never had the intention of giving amnesty to those who killed innocent people nor it thought of overlooking the legal process or undermining the Constitution while holding the talks.

“Today, a question arises, could Shehbaz Sharif refute the fact that the links with the TTP ceased after April 9 (when the PTI government was removed); please do not fool the people,” he added.

He castigated Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari for not giving attention to the security challenges; “he was touring the world, but he does not have the time to visit Kabul.”

“He was having breakfast in Washington while innocent Pakistanis were being killed by terrorists,” he added. He also criticized Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar for bringing the economy to a standstill in a few months; “the people were paying the price for his indecisions on economic matters.”

“The government lacks an action plan or a roadmap to address the multitude of economic challenges and hence the people with limited income were bearing the cost. Who was responsible for this mess,” he added.

He said that this government has shown a series of slackness and still expects the PTI to join the APC and authenticate their imprudent decisions; “no, we all need to retrospect their performance.”

“This government was responsible for the killings of innocent people and the economic meltdown,” he added.

To a question, he said that free and fair elections were the only way to rescue the country from the present turmoil.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023