Fawad says strategy in place in case talks with govt fail

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry said on Sunday that his party has devised a “strategy” in case talks with the government fail to lead to elections.

“PTI wants the success of negotiations [with the government], but it has formulated a strategy in case of failure,” the former minister tweeted.

“It is not possible for the PTI to sit silently if the Constitution is considered as a piece of garbage and the public as insects,” he said.

The former Information minister called on the people to prepare for a movement in case the constitution is violated and elections are delayed.

“The movement is starting tomorrow with rallies in Lahore, Islamabad, and Peshawar, culminating into a historic long march,” Fawad added.

On the heels of speculated “reconciliation” between the treasury and opposition over holding general elections in the country, the officials of government held a crucial meeting with senior leaders of PTI on Thursday – in the first round of “political dialogue.”

The PTI on Saturday decided to continue negotiations with the government over holding elections across the country on the same day.

According to sources, PTI Chairman Imran Khan presided over a meeting of the party’s senior leaders, which was attended by Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Fawad Chaudhry, Shibli Faraz, Senator Azam Swati, Ijaz Chaudhry, Hammad Azhar, Mahmood Khan and others.

During the meeting, the former prime minister was given a detailed briefing on the dialogue with the government, while various proposals and future courses of action also came under discussion. The meeting also strongly condemned the late-night raid at the residence of party president and former Punjab chief minister Chaudhry Pervez Elahi.

The sources said that the leadership present in the meeting opined that the police operation could be a conspiracy to abruptly end the talks with the government.

The participants believed that if the party called off the dialogue, the government might get an opportunity to fight their case for delaying the elections in the Supreme Court.

The leader also suggested that the talks with the government should not linger on for too long; if their proposal is not accepted then the dialogue can be called off. However, the leaders expressed their opinion that the talks with the government should continue.

While talking to the media, PTI Central Punjab General Secretary Hammad Azhar confirmed that the negotiations with the government would continue and added that no one opposed it in the meeting.