Asif sees little chances of govt-PTI talks’ success

Defence minister says Imran’s conditions have made it almost impossible for negotiations to bear any fruit

ISLAMABAD:

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Friday said he did not have high hopes for the talks between the government and PTI and the process of dialogue was just a “waste of time”.

Speaking on Express News’ show “Centrestage” hosted by Rehman Azhar, Asif added that after PTI chairman and deposed premier Imran Khan’s conditions that he had placed earlier in the day, the chances of the talks succeeding had reduced to almost nothing.

With the government and PTI still unable to break the impasse on when to hold the polls during their second round of talks, Imran, while talking to the media outside the Islamabad High Court, said there was no need for negotiations if the ruling coalition wanted to hold them in September or October as he wished immediate dissolution of the National Assembly as well as snap elections.

He added that he had directed his negotiators, PTI leaders Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Fawad Chaudhry, not to accept anything less than immediate dissolution of parliament and elections as soon as possible.

Responding to the host’s query, the minister said Imran had “delivered a tampered ball”.

Pointing out the conditions imposed by the PTI chief, Asif asked how could there be any positive outcome of the talks.

Taking a jibe at Imran, the minister asked the host to tell him if there was any year wherein the deposed premier had not turned back on his stance.

“First [Imran’s ouster from power] was a foreign conspiracy. Now he invites American dignitaries to his residence,” he added.

It is pertinent to mention here that the PTI chief, at the time of his ouster from the post of the prime minister in April last year through a vote of no confidence resolution in the National Assembly, claimed that the conspiracy to remove him from power was hatched in the US.

However, he later conceded that the US had no role in the whole affair, maintaining that the conspiracy was hatched in Pakistan.

Asif pointed out that the PTI chief had sent applications over the dissolution of the Punjab Assembly.

“We kept asking him [Imran] not to dissolve the Punjab Assembly. In fact, Parvez Elahi [then the Punjab chief minister] kept asking him not to dissolve the provincial assembly. Was dissolving the Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa assemblies a correct decision?” he continued.

Asif maintained that if the PTI had not dissolved the provincial assemblies, the party could have actually taken political advantage, but Imran still went ahead with it.

The minister disclosed that he had opposed talks with the PTI but his party wanted to give it a shot.

“My party allows me to disagree with its decisions and that is democracy,” he added.