Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Adviser to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah on Wednesday claimed that PTI leader Murad Saeed was in Afghanistan, where he was controlling Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s affairs. “Murad Saeed’s current location is Afghanistan,” Rana said, claiming that the former federal minister was “sitting in Afghanistan and controlling the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government”.
He further alleged that Saeed had played a role in Sohail Afridi’s appointment as KP chief minister.
“We are being told that the PTI founder did not even know Sohail Afridi,” Rana said.
The PM’s aide also blamed Afridi and Saeed for the breakdown of negotiations between the government and PTI.
“The fundamental role in the failure of the negotiations was played by Sohail Afridi and the person sitting behind him, Murad Saeed,” he claimed.
Rana said the government had negotiated “in complete good faith” and offered PTI everything it had demanded, but claimed that Afridi and Saeed did not believe in resolving matters through talks with political figures.
Earlier in the day, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan questioned the focus on Saeed’s alleged involvement, saying the key issue was why the negotiations had collapsed.
“Whether Murad Saeed or someone else intervened is not the question. The real question is who walked away from the negotiating table and why?” Gohar told media at Parliament House.
He said the two sides had reached the negotiating table after considerable difficulty and questioned why the government walked away over the fourth clause of a five-point draft.
Meanwhile, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said a day earlier that the government had “all the information” regarding Saeed and that he would disclose it.
