Govt ready to talk with Opposition on major issues, says Fawad

Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry on Monday said that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was ready to talk to the Opposition on major issues, including electoral reforms, but it will not provide relief in corruption cases against their leadership.

Talking to the media in Faisalabad, the federal minister invited the opposition parties for dialogue on electoral reforms, the appointment of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chief and judicial reforms.

He said that the government will welcome the Opposition's suggestions for amendments in the accountability law, reforms in the judiciary and added that political parties agreed with the government on more than two-third of electoral reforms proposed.

Fawad said that the government was interested in taking the Opposition along on issues of national importance but it will not compromise on its accountability drive. "If the Opposition wants relief in graft cases in return for talks on these reforms, then it is a non-starter," the minister added.

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Fawad said that the PTI was elected on promises of accountability and bringing back the looted wealth, so it is obvious that PM Imran and the party will not settle for anything less than that. “I think the failure of major political parties is not benefitting Pakistan…this is paving way for the rise of sectarian [political] parties, which would hurt Pakistan in [the] future.”

People should be given hope that the parliament can resolve people’s issues instead of giving an impression that it is an “arena” where ruckus is created every day, he added.

Fawad said that Imran Khan believed in transparent elections and the government wanted to create a system to ensure that. After the local government polls in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), the upcoming LG polls in Punjab will be fair as well, the minister added.

He said that the PTI was the biggest party in Pakistan, adding that the PML-N and PPP have been reduced to central Punjab and Sindh, respectively. These parties need to reconsider their politics, he said, adding that national politics was the need of the hour.

He accused the PPP of depriving the Sindh's people of health cards for the sake of politics. He said that the Sindh chief minister didn’t want the health card to be launched in the province because it would apparently dent his party’s political stature.