Summary: PTI says future talks with the government require access to Imran Khan and a jointly agreed strategy on counterterrorism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
ISLAMABAD (Web Desk) – Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Secretary General Salman Akram Raja has said reconciliation with the government cannot move forward unless incarcerated party founder Imran Khan is included in the dialogue process.
Speaking at a press conference in Islamabad on Monday, Raja said the party had entered negotiations with the government in good faith but could not reach an agreement on key political and security issues.
Raja said PTI wanted access to Imran Khan so that the party leadership could consult him before taking decisions on matters under discussion with the government.
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He said the party believed Imran Khan’s involvement was essential to addressing the political divide between the government and the opposition.
Raja also identified differences over counterterrorism policy in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as another major reason for the failure of the talks. He said PTI had proposed that decisions concerning terrorism in the province should be taken collectively by the federal and provincial governments after consultation with political parties and other stakeholders.
According to Raja, PTI had also asked the government to consider recommendations made by a peace jirga convened by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly.
He said the opposition delegation wanted any understanding on counterterrorism to include a mechanism for collective decision-making, but the government was unwilling to put such an arrangement into the proposed agreement.
The government and opposition held two rounds of talks over the weekend, but the negotiations ended without a breakthrough. Access to Imran Khan and disagreements over counterterrorism policy in KP emerged as key areas of dispute. Both sides have since blamed each other for the breakdown.
Meanwhile, KP Assembly Speaker Babar Swati said he would convene another meeting of the assembly’s special security committee to bring relevant political and state institutions together.
Swati said the committee had previously received briefings from provincial security and administrative officials and was working towards comprehensive parliamentary recommendations on the province’s security situation.
He said the committee would formulate recommendations after hearing the positions of relevant institutions and submit them to the provincial and federal governments after approval by the assembly.
Swati stressed that the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa wanted peace and called for a coordinated approach to counterterrorism and implementation of the National Action Plan.
