Allow Imran Khan Meeting to Resolve Issues, Says Shaukat Yousafzai
PESHAWAR: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Secretary Shaukat Yousafzai has urged the government to allow a meeting with party founder Imran Khan, saying that doing so could pave the way for resolving the ongoing political issues.
Reacting to the interior minister’s statement, Yousafzai said the minister should not conceal the facts, claiming that the real reason behind the failure of negotiations was the government’s changing stance and stubbornness.
He said PTI had never closed the doors to negotiations and maintained that the long march was the party’s constitutional, legal, political and democratic right.
Yousafzai claimed that the long march, which has been continuing since the previous day under the leadership of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, was highly successful and peaceful.
He said the government had no justification for taking any unconstitutional or undemocratic step in the province.
The PTI leader said that if the government allowed a meeting with Imran Khan today, the issues could be resolved. He added that since the government had ended the negotiations, it should also reconsider that decision.
Yousafzai warned that imposing governor’s rule or declaring an emergency could further aggravate the situation. He said peace was needed most by the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which, according to him, had been facing terrorism for the past 25 years.
He called for all stakeholders to be brought together if the government intended to formulate a policy to address terrorism.
Yousafzai said the provincial government was ready to extend every possible cooperation to eliminate terrorism. He credited Barrister Gohar and his team for facilitating the negotiations between the government and the opposition.
