Only Imran's talk offer to merit response: Asif

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Monday said that incarcerated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founding chairman Imran Khan should initiate talks with the ruling party as no one else has any authority in his party to hold meaningful talks, adding that only then would the government consider the proposal and respond to it.

The defence minister also suggested that the negotiations should be held between the two sides through the office of National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq. Reiterating that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) would respond if the PTI kicked off the process, the minister said that no one had yet approached his party with a message regarding the talks.

The PML-N stalwart, while talking to journalists at Parliament House, termed statements of the PTI leadership about talks a joke. "The PTI founding chairman should initiate the talks process," he said, "Apart from him, no one has any [authoritative] position in the PTI."

Before coming to parliament, the PML-N leader said that he had inquired of his party officials if anyone from PTI had approached the PML-N, saying the response had been negative. Asif also said that it was necessary to see in what circumstances and language the PTI leaders were talking about negotiations.

Saying that there had not been any change in the language of the PTI till now, Asif said that if negotiations were to be held, the language and tone would have to be kept soft. "The PTI should make contact first. Only then would we be in a position to respond," he said.

Nevertheless, PTI leaders, while speaking on the floor of the National Assembly, clarified their position regarding talks, saying the proposals shouldn't be construed as weakness but should rather be taken as a sign of maturity by a party whose workers were allegedly shot dead during a rally on November 26 in the capital's Blue Area.

PTI's parliamentary leader, Zartaj Gul, said that Imran showed maturity when he formed a committee to hold dialogue with the ruling party despite how he is being treated inside the jail and how the workers were treated outside.

"We will hold dialogue for the betterment of the country," Gul said, saying the PTI will not back off from its demands of an inquiry into the deaths of party workers on November 26. She said that people were still with the PTI and the government side should show some maturity.

Asking the treasury benches to stop talking about May 9 or trial of former spymaster Gen Faiz Hameed, she reiterated that the PTI will continue to demand that all political prisoners, including Imran Khan, should be released immediately, hold a judicial inquiry on the May 9 and November 26 incidents, mandate issues be resolved and democracy, rule of law and the Constitution should be restored in the country.

Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) chief Sahibzada Hamid Raza said that Imran Khan had made a positive gesture and formed a negotiation committee but the government's response had not been up to the mark. "Talks will only be held on the directions of Imran Khan; there will be no minus Imran Khan".