Prime Minister’s Adviser on Political and Public Affairs Senator Rana Sanaullah on Friday noted that the government’s offer of political dialogue to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) remains intact.
Speaking on the Senate floor in response to a point of public interest raised by opposition Senator Mishal Azam, he noted that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s invitation for talks “still stands today,” adding that political issues could only be resolved through engagement.
During the Senate session, Sanaullah urged the Khan-founded party’s leadership to return to the negotiating table, stressing that “democracy moves forward through dialogue, not deadlock.”
He lamented that the PTI leadership “is not willing to speak to us,” while those they are willing to talk to “do not wish to talk to them.”
Referring to the jail meetings with the incarcerated former prime minister, Sanaullah said any meetings with under-trial prisoners must follow legal and prison rules. “Such meetings cannot be allowed if they risk disturbing public order or creating unrest,” he added.
He further said that if the opposition wishes to form a parliamentary committee on this matter, they must first coordinate with their leadership and obtain clear instructions, he said.
Meanwhile, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Friday announced a blanket ban on meetings with Imran Khan at Adiala jail, calling him an “extremist consumed by war hysteria”.
His comments came hours after Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry termed the PTI founder a “mentally ill person” and a threat to national security
Separately, State Minister for Interior Senator Talal Chaudhry said: “20 to 25 years ago, many had already said he [Imran] was a planted person,” claiming that the PTI founder had attempted to make every state institution controversial.
He added that the actions taken by PTI were “against the country” and that the party “does not fall under the category of a political party.”
Chaudhry said the government would “definitely reflect” on the points raised by the military’s spokesperson in his latest briefing, and recalled that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan had also distanced itself from its own founder, Altaf Hussain.