PML-N senior leaders Rana Sanaullah and Khawaja Saad Rafique responded to PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s “one demand” for negotiations on Saturday by stating that “talks don’t come with conditions.”
The Railways Minister while addressing a press conference in Lahore said that Imran must be serious if he truly wants to engage in negotiations and that threats, accusations, abuses, and talks cannot go hand in hand.
The announcement follows Imran’s invitation to “sit down for negotiations” with the administration on the condition that it set a date for early general elections; else, he threatened to dissolve the provincial assembly of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Rafique continued, “Besides us, our allies have enormous reluctance about talking to them (PTI) and not offering them any form of face-saving.”
According to their perspective, “assemblies are designed for legislation and governing, not for dissolving,” he stated.
Rafique said that abolition of the assembly would be equivalent to “wasting the time and resources of the government and the nation.” He promised that if he spoke seriously, “we would reply seriously.”
Interior Minister Sanaullah remarked while sitting next to him that Imran wanted to get a date for the election by threatening and abusing the establishment.
“He cannot get a date from us using the same method after talking to us.”
He said to the media that unofficial communications have taken place between us in the past, and it’s interesting to note that they also communicate by themselves and then also hesitate to disclose them.
