Nawaz tells PM not to engage Imran in talks
PML-N supreme says Imran’s emphasis is on foul language; Shahbaz should focus on serving people
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supreme Nawaz Sharif stopped Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday from engaging in talks with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan in connection with his long march.
The PML-N supremo asked the prime minister from London neither he should neither listen to
any demands nor give any face saving to PTI chairman no matter “if he brings 2,000 or 20,000 people to the capital”.
PTI Chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan started his long march – dubbed as ‘Haqeeqi Azadi March’ – towards Islamabad from Lahore on Friday. Imran said that his only demand was the date of the early general elections.
On Saturday
the prime minister formed a 13-member committee, including representatives from the ruling coalition parties regarding the march,
saying that anyone wishing talks, could approach the committee.
In a series of tweets, Nawaz said that Imran was desperately looking for face saving. He said that Imran frequently claimed to bring a million people to Islamabad but has not yet managed to gather 2,000 people.
Nawaz said
that the reason for the indifference of the people was Imran’s evil lies that have been exposed before the nation. “He [Imran] told one lie after another so brazenly and stubbornly that the DG ISI [Inter-Services Intelligence] was forced to break his silence and tell the nation the truth,
which he could not answer even after so many days,” he stated.
“That is why,” Nawaz maintained, “Imran’s all emphasis as usual is on foul language”.
He added: “I have told Shahbaz Sharif that whether he [Imran] brings 2,000 or 20,000 people, neither he [the prime minister] should listen to any demand of this fitna [mischief] nor give him any face saving, for which he is desperate,”
Nawaz tweeted, adding that Prime Minister Shehbaz should focus all his attention on serving the people.
On October 26, Nawaz had also tweeted that Imran’s long march was not for any revolution but to appoint an army chief of his liking, saying that the people had already seen his revolution during his four-year tenure.
Nawaz’s latest tweets have come on the heels of Imran’s tweet wherein he said that he has been witnessing a revolution taking over the country for the last six months.
saying the “only question is will it be a soft one through the ballot box or a destructive one through bloodshed”.
Imran, who started his long march from Lahore on October 28, is slowly moving towards Islamabad with one-point agenda of holding free and fair elections at the earliest in the country.
Since then, Imran has held rallies in many cities, won the by-elections in Punjab and the one held on the National Assembly seats that fell vacant after PTI lawmakers resigned en masse.
Though the PTI’s 123 lawmakers had resigned but National Assembly Speaker
Subsequently
the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) announced elections on the vacant seats where Imran made history once again by winning six out of eight seats
And if the country goes for snap polls his party could come back in power.
On the other hand
the PML-N-led ruling alliance has frequently been saying that general elections would be held on time and there was
which has severely been affected the climate-induced rains and floods affecting roughly 33 million people.
Reportedly
there was a time when the PML-N leadership decided to go for
early elections but when Imran announced his previous long march in May this year seeking
date for the next general election, Prime Minister Shehbaz along with
top leadership of the allied parties decided that they would now complete the remaining constitutional term.
At the moment, Imran is constantly building pressure on
the government for snap polls but the ruling alliance has repeatedly rejected his demands and
offered talks on charter of economy, among other things. With Nawaz’s latest tweet, it seems the door for negotiations will remain closed for some time.