Sanaullah says government in contact with PTI ‘friends’

The government has maintained informal contacts with some “friends” within the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Adviser to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah has said.

The government has maintained informal contacts with some “friends” within the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Adviser to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah has said.

Speaking on TV talk show, Sanaullah declined to name those ‘friends’ in the PTI, saying contacts continued by telephone and during sessions of the National Assembly and Senate.

“We have off-the-record contacts with them, with those friends,” he said.

Sanaullah said some PTI members had discussed within party meetings whether the previous round of negotiations had been “sabotaged”. He claimed that some people who wanted the talks to succeed had faced online trolling.

He said a meeting between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, as Leader of the House, and opposition leader Mahmood Khan Achakzai should be the first step towards reviving the stalled dialogue.

Sanaullah rejected Achakzai’s reluctance to meet the prime minister at the Prime Minister’s House, saying there was “no logic” behind that position. He added that Sharif had approached the opposition leader’s seat during visits to the National Assembly.

The adviser expressed hope that “sense will prevail” and negotiations would resume.

He also said that discussions about changing the current approach might be taking place within PTI, but stressed that the party needed to translate them into a “clear method” for moving forward.

Sanaullah said PTI should return to parliamentary committees and that confidence in the party’s intentions could develop once its internal discussions led to a clear way forward.