Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Advisor to Prime Minister on Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit Baltistan Qamar Zaman Kaira on Friday said unconditional dialogue was the only option to address all political issues and reaching to a consensus on all outstanding matters.
“We are ready to talk to them [PTI leadership] on their demands but unconditional. Consensus should be acceptable for all democratic forces in the country for strengthening of the democracy and the supremacy of law and constitution,” he said while addressing a press conference. Kaira said, “We never denied holding of dialogue with them but they have to justify their demands as here is a constitution and democratic institutions, which should be respected and obeyed.”
He said there should be no deadlock in political dialogues because it’s a negative thing in the democratic system and all political issues could be resolved through dialogue and discussions. “Deadlocks in dialogue create problems while discussions pave the way for positive outcomes.”
He suggested that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leadership should avoid issuing controversial statements which may harm the peace and stability of the country. “Unfortunately, PTI leaders have been issuing irresponsible statements soon after the firing incident, which should be avoided.”
Kaira said changing the government was purely an undemocratic and unconstitutional demand of the PTI.
He said, “We are a strong believer in peaceful dialogue with political parties.” Unlike PTI leadership, the government’s representatives never issued any irresponsible statements and they only responded to their charges in a polite manner, he added.
Replying to a question, the PM aide said, “We want to make the country’s political atmosphere a pleasant and calm one. Our enemies are taking advantage of the situation to destabilize our country.”
To another question, he said, “I will request the prime minister and my party leadership to visit Imran Khan to inquire about his health.”
He said that the leadership of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) faced alike attacks and even lost their lives but “we never exploited the situation and stimulated the public for wrongdoing just for the sake of the country. I request PTI leadership to play a responsible role to ensure peace in the country and fail the nefarious designs of Pakistan’s enemies.”
He said that the entire nation was shocked over the tragic firing incident. He prayed to Allah Almighty for the early recovery of the PTI chairman and other injured persons.
He said the PPP leadership strongly condemned the attack on Imran Khan and demanded an investigation into the incident to know the actual reasons behind the attack. He expressed the hope that the Punjab government would properly investigate the matter as the attacker was in their custody along with the weapon while they had footage and other material to probe the matter.
He, however, said that rather than focusing on the investigation, the PTI leadership was trying to involve those personalities who had nothing to do with the incident. He asked the PTI leadership to avoid making such wrong charges without having facts.
He wondered how PTI leaders could blame the federal government; if this was a matter of negligence then the Punjab government should be held accountable for not making proper security arrangements for the PTI long march. They should blame the Punjab government as the chief minister of Punjab, who is the administrative head of the province, failed to issue any statement on the matter, Kaira added.
