ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday assured JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman that the federal government has no plans to impose an emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa if PTI abandons its march towards the capital and returns to negotiating table.
The assurance came during a meeting between the prime minister and the JUI-F chief, who was invited by Prime Minister Sharif over the telephone earlier in the day to discuss the escalating tensions between the federal government and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led KP provincial government.
According to sources, Maulana Rehman took the PTI leadership into confidence before meeting the prime minister and conveyed its concerns during the discussion.
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He urged Sharif to exercise restraint, warning that imposing an emergency in the province would further complicate an already fragile political situation.
The prime minister told the JUI-F chief that he had repeatedly invited the PTI to hold talks but the party continued to pursue confrontational politics, which the government could not accept, the sources said.
Maulana Rehman assured the prime minister that he would play his role in easing tensions and facilitating dialogue between the government and opposition.
The Prime Minister’s Office confirmed that the two leaders discussed the political deadlock.
JUI-F spokesperson Aslam Ghauri said the meeting focused on the prevailing political situation and tensions between the federal and provincial governments.
Ghauri added that Maulana remained in contact with PTI leaders and had taken them into confidence as part of efforts to defuse the crisis.
PTI Khyber Pakhtunkhwa president Junaid Akbar said his party authorised Maulana to mediate between the two sides.
PTI chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan also called for unconditional dialogue to resolve the impasse through political means.
The latest contacts follow two rounds of negotiations that ended without an agreement. The principal sticking points include access to PTI founder Imran Khan for meetings in prison and the role of the provincial government in determining counterterrorism policy.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026