Qaseem Shah: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday urged the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to end its march towards Islamabad and return to political dialogue, warning that prolonged protests could undermine Pakistan’s economic recovery.
Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony of the Kashmir Chowk underpass in Islamabad, the prime minister said the government remained willing to engage with the opposition to resolve political differences through negotiations.
Shehbaz said political uncertainty and long marches could disrupt economic activity, affecting exports, imports, manufacturing and other sectors. He said Pakistan had achieved macroeconomic stability over the past two and a half years and should now focus on sustaining economic growth.
The prime minister said improvements had been recorded in information technology exports, remittances and domestic production in September, warning that actions damaging these gains would not serve the country’s interests.
He said it was unfortunate that the threat of another long march had emerged despite efforts by the PML-N and PPP to engage the PTI in talks.
According to Shehbaz, representatives of the government and PTI held negotiations for two days in the chamber of National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, raising hopes that political confrontation would ease. He alleged, however, that disagreements later prevented the talks from producing a settlement.
The prime minister warned that the government would not allow political protests to endanger the economy or public safety and said the law would take its course.
He again invited the PTI to negotiations, saying the government would sit with the opposition once it ended the march and protests.
Responding to the remarks, PTI interim chairman Barrister Gohar Khan said dialogue had so far remained limited to offers without meaningful progress.
Speaking outside Adiala jail, Gohar said the party was concerned about the lack of concrete steps and criticized restrictions on meetings between Imran Khan and his doctors, family members, lawyers and party representatives.
He said the PTI had consistently maintained that Pakistan’s interests came first, rejecting any impression that the party was seeking confrontation for its own sake.
