—– Shehbaz says many political breakthroughs made when leaders talked
—– Claims there is major difference when it comes to Khan-led party
—– Adds anarchists wearing garb of politicians don’t qualify for talks
—– Announces public relief, economic development among priorities in next Budget
Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Tuesday his government was unwilling to talk with Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) due to the party’s nation-wide violent riots on May 9.
The prime minister, in a tweet, acknowledged that dialogue is deeply embedded in the political pro-cess, which helps democracy mature and evolve.
“Many political and constitutional breakthroughs occurred when political leaders sat across the table to craft a consensus,” the premier mentioned.
But he said there is a major difference when it comes to the Khan-led party. “The anarchists & arson-ists who wear the garb of politicians and attack the symbols of the State do not qualify for a dialogue. They should rather be held to account for their militant actions.” The deposed prime minister — who was removed from office via a vote of no confidence in April last year — said he is ready to speak to “anyone who is in power” after his party’s top leaders began jump-ing ship following the May 9 riots.
Khan had said that he was forming a committee which will talk to “anyone who is in power” on two things. “If it helps the country according to ‘them’, I will leave politics. Second, how is it beneficial for the country if elections are held in October,” Khan had said about the objective of the committee.
The PTI had last week announced the constitution of a seven-member team for negotiating with the incumbent government on the direction of its chairman.
The negotiation team comprises PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi, former defence minister Pervez Khattak, former National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser, PTI Sindh President Haleem Adil Sheikh, and former ministers Murad Saeed, Hammad Azhar, and Aun Abbasi.
Khan’s party has been feeling the heat of the state’s might after his party workers burnt and smashed military installations, including the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, after his arrest on May 9 — a day the army dubbed as “Black Day”.
Several party leaders and thousands of workers have been rounded up in connection with the violent protests and the army has insisted that the people involved in attacks on military installations be tried under the Pakistan Army Act and the Official Secrets Act.
In a similar statement to that of the prime minister, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb also rejected the PTI chief’s offer for talks.
Reacting to his offer, the information minister said: “Dialogue cannot be held with those who set the country on fire, create chaos and anarchy, fills the minds of masses with hatred, and harbour armed groups.”
She said that Khan was not appealing for negotiations, he was, in fact, seeking an “NRO”. The infor-mation minister said talks cannot be held with those who “poisoned the minds of the youth”, the “leaders of the criminals and terrorists”.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday said that the provision of maximum relief to the masses and economic development would be among the federal government’s priorities in the upcoming budget for fiscal 2023-24.
The prime minister, chairing a meeting to discuss the budget proposals for the industrial sector, said the federal budget would also encompass the measures to enhance industrial growth as well as ex-ports. He said that he would personally make sure that the proposals coming for the industrial sector were incorporated into the budget.
The prime minister instructed the authorities concerned to remove all unnecessary impediments in the increase of small, medium and large-scale industrial production. He told the meeting that the pre-vious government deliberately obstructed the investment and industrial development in the country.
The previous government violated the agreement with International Monetary Fund (IMF) to save its rule, making 220 million of Pakistan bear its brunt. He said being a resilient nation, Pakistanis were gradually coming out of the economic difficulties.
Prime Minister Shehbaz said the government, the whole nation, industrialists and the business com-munity were working hard to improve the country’s economic situation. He said throughout the previ-ous year, the miscreants inflicted damage to the country through “long or short” marches and sit-ins.
He also told the meeting that the incidents of May 9, did not only create violence but also inflicted huge economic loss to the country. He said the government would help decrease industries’ produc-tion costs by supplying low-cost energy, besides arranging easy bank loans for the small industries.
Prime Minister Shehbaz directed his Advisor Ahad Cheema to finalise the proposals from the industrial sectors and ensure their incorporation into the budget. The meeting was joined through a video link by prominent industrialists and investors from all sectors.
Besides, federal ministers Ishaq Dar, Syed Naveed Qamar, Ahsan Iqbal, Makhdoom Murtaza Mahmood, Engineer Khurram Dastgir, State Minister Dr Musaddiq Malik, Advisor Ahad Cheema, spe-cial assistants to PM Tariq Bajwa and Jahanzeb Khan, MNAs Qaiser Sheikh, State Bank governor, and FBR chairman and relevant senior officers attended the meeting. The ministries of commerce and in-dustrial production put forward the budget proposals received from different sectors.
Besides, the industrialists and investors presented their proposals for the budget. The prime minister directed the authorities concerned to carry out detailed work on the proposals and present a report to him.
