- Finance minister says govt ready to hold formal talks with PTI from Sunday
- Says commission can include MI and ISI officials in rigging probe if it wants
- PTI’s Qureshi says govt yet to formally approach party for negotiations
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said Friday the government is ready to resume talks with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) as early as Sunday but reiterated that officials from intelligence agencies would not be included in the judicial commission to probe last year’s polls as demanded by PTI Chairman Imran Khan.
Addressing a seminar in Islamabad, the finance minister also demanded the PTI chief to announce the cancellation of his “Plan-C”, saying the party should call off its ‘shutdown’ protest in Faisalabad on Dec 8 if it was serious in holding talks with the government.
“The government has always been ready for negotiations to settle the issue that is causing huge loss to the country and that it has never refused an offer of negotiations by PTI,” he said.
However, Dar said that officials from the Military Intelligence (MI) and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) could not be included in the judicial commission to probe alleged rigging in general elections of 2013.
“A commission would be established under the Pakistan Commission of Inquiry Act 1956,” he said, adding that no one could direct the judicial commission. However, if the commission itself wants to include officials from intelligence agencies, the government would not object to it.
“A judicial commission through presidential ordinance is not feasible, and that will not be able to probe election rigging,” said the finance minister.
He said that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) would have no right to remain in government if the commission reveals massive rigging in last year’s election.
QURESHI DENIES CONTACT:
On the other hand, PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that nobody from the government has contacted his party for dialogue, saying that they were getting the news of dialogues from “here and there”.
“I don’t think the government wants talks with PTI,” he told a news channel.
It is just talks about talks but the ruling party is not prepared to walk the walk. As long as the contents of the talks is not clear what use is there in negotiating.?
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