Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on Monday said that the party has not received any offer for a dialogue from Prime Minister Imran Khan and it will take a decision in this regard in consultation with other parties.
PM’s advisor Naeem-ul-Haque had on Sunday made a dialogue offer saying the premier is ready to talk to the opposition parties.
Speaking to Geo News anchor Shahzad Iqbal during the programme ‘Naya Pakistan’, Haque said that if the opposition even gave a “hint”, the government will not back out from talking to it.
Responding to the PM's advisor, senior PML-N sources said that they have not received a offer from the government, adding that the PML-N will discuss the matter with all opposition parties .
Taking a jibe at PM Imran Khan, the PML-N's senior leadership said, “Khan has ruined Pakistan’s economy and institution in just 17 months because of his high headedness and arrogance, adding that it’s time for him to come to senses and stop playing with the lives of Pakistani people.”
The offer from the ruling party is being considered as an important development since the government and opposition have been at loggerheads on the accountability drive.
Opposition parties have accused the government of using anti-graft body NAB to settle scores. The government, on the other hand, has accused opposition politicians of looting the country’s wealth and stashing it abroad.
It is pertinent to mention that the government is facing problems from the coalition partners who are unhappy over unfulfillment of promises made with them.
Speaking on the recent criticism of the government by its allies, Haque said their concerns were valid. “We have to tell them [allies] that the government doesn’t have funds,” he said. “Politics is about ‘give and take’.”
The government has bolstered its efforts to woo its coalition parties — the PML-Q, the MQM-P, the BNP-M and the GDA — after MQM-P's Convener Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui resigned last week.