Former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has said that given the composition of the peace committee constituted by the government to hold talks with Taliban, it is very difficult for it to deliver and produce results.
Reacting on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s initiative to hold talks with Taliban, Gilani told Pakistan Today, “FATA is the hub of militancy and there is no member in the new committee to represent this troubled area. How could it deliver? In my opinion, it lacks the credibility needed to pursue such an important task.”
Gilani said that government had failed to adopt a clear-cut approach towards terrorism. “It seems that the government is at the same point for the last seven or eight months,” he asserted.
Gilani said, “All Parties Conference (APC) gave mandate to the government to hold talks. However, the government did not take the politicians into confidence as to what it has done since then.”
Meanwhile, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), which emerged as a powerful voice against Taliban, came up with a cautious response towards the new peace initiative.
Its leadership underlined the need to engage Taliban in a given time framework as if not convinced with the move. The other day PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto called upon all forces to unite ranks against the Taliban.
However, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leadership found itself vindicated as it hailed the announcement by the prime minister on the floor of the house.
“It is a positive development and step in right direction,” PTI Punjab President Ejaz Chaudhry said. He was of the view that formation of committee to hold talks with Taliban was in accordance with the mandate given to the government by the APC.
However, he said that this committee has been formed very late and was not powerful enough to play a decisive role in the dialogue.
