Signs of thaw in govt, PTI standoff

• PM says ready to hold meaningful dialogue with PTI
• Qureshi says PTI may call off Dec 8 protest if govt resumes talks by 6th
• Dar says govt ready to resume talks by Dec 6 or 7th if PTI withdraws protest call

The government and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Tuesday reached out to each other in a bid to revive the dialogue process, as Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said that the ruling party was ready for meaningful dialogue with the party of cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan.

Talking to reporters at London’s Heathrow Airport, Sharif said that PTI’s calls to shut down the country would not only be inappropriate but disastrous, and that Pakistan is being played with in an unfortunate manner.

He said that his government strongly believed in settling issues through talks. “We are the democratic people. The negotiations should be constructive. If they want to talk, we would have no objection,” he added.

The prime minister made the remarks after arriving in the United Kingdom to attend the London Conference on Afghanistan.

When speaking of an enquiry into alleged rigging in the 2013 general elections, Sharif said that the issue should have been raised earlier on.

He also criticised the PTI govt in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), saying that educational institutions are in bad shape and that jails were also broken in the province.

“First make a new KP and then think about making a new Pakistan,” the PM said, addressing PTI Chairman Imran Khan.

PTI MAY CANCEL DEC 8 PROTEST:

Later in the evening, PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi told a talk show that he could request Imran Khan to call off the ‘shutdown’ protest in Faisalabad scheduled for Dec 8, if the government resumed the negotiations by Dec 6.

Qureshi said that if Finance Minister Ishaq Dar gives an assurance to the PTI that the government would restart the talks by Dec 6, then “I will try to persuade my party to call off the protest”.

Talking on the same show, Finance Minister Dar said that if the PTI called of its Dec 8 protest, the government would resume the dialogue process by Dec 6 or 7.

“I am ready to go an extra mile for this, and will reach out to the prime minister,” said the minister.

Earlier addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Dar said the government is ready to resume talks with the PTI from the point they were earlier broken off.

“The government sincerely wants to solve the current political turmoil through talks but sincerity should be displayed by both sides,” said Dar.

On the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), Dar said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and National Assembly Opposition Leader Khurshid Shah will finalise a name for the CEC’s office by December 5.

He added that if the PM and Shah failed to agree upon a name, the decision would be made by the parliamentary committee.