Jailed PTI leaders urge PM to pursue a 'Charter of Pakistan'

Senior jailed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders have urged the opposition leadership to persuade Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to hold talks on a "Charter of Pakistan" instead of a "Charter of Economy", arguing that Pakistan's crisis is political and constitutional as much as it is economic.

In a letter addressed to Opposition Leader Mahmood Khan Achakzai, Allama Raja Nasir Abbas and PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, the incarcerated leaders called for a joint invitation to the prime minister for serious and result-oriented dialogue on key national issues.

The letter was issued from Kot Lakhpat Jail by former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Dr Yasmin Rashid, Omar Sarfraz Cheema and Mian Mahmoodur Rasheed through their counsel, Rana Mudassar Umar.

Referring to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's renewed call for a Charter of Economy, the PTI leaders said history showed that no country had achieved sustainable economic progress without the supremacy of the Constitution.

They maintained that Pakistan's challenges were not merely economic but also political and constitutional, and stressed that a "Charter of Pakistan" should be developed to build national consensus among all political parties.

According to the letter, the proposed charter should ensure that all state institutions perform their duties within constitutional limits, uphold the rule of law, and guarantee equal application of the law and across-the-board accountability.

The jailed leaders further said Pakistan needed broad-based political dialogue to address issues of national security, democracy and the economy, adding that the country required a dialogue that rose above governments and safeguarded constitutional supremacy for future generations.