No talks with Imran, we want him out: Fazl

DERA ISMAIL KHAN/ISLAMABAD: PDM chief Fazlur Rahman Thursday rejected the PTI’s talks offer saying he did not consider Imran Khan eligible for talks.

“We do not consider him (Imran Khan) eligible for talks. We want to kick him out of the political arena but the Supreme Court seems desirous of keeping him as the centre stage of politics,” he told a crowded press conference at his residence here.

Fazl said they always accepted the apex court verdicts but would never accept coercion from any institution. “If the verdict was imposed with force, then we will not knock the court doors but will go straight to the court of people,” he said, adding that the apex court should make its attitude flexible owing to the volatile situation in the country.

Fazl said the parliament had passed laws and now the court should act as per Act of the supreme body of the country. He said they had talked to the allies about the no-confidence in the specific bench and its particular verdicts. “The same views were conveyed to the bench by our law minister and attorney general, then how would they appear before the same bench?”

He asked why Imran Khan had dissolved the assemblies. He said the country’s economy was in tatters due to the flawed policies of PTI government and its politics of hatred and victimization. Imran Khan had no performance to show to the people. He said the government was striving to lower the prices of essential commodities to facilitate poor people.

Meanwhile, Chairman PPP and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said he saw a conspiracy to impose one unit in the country adding that if negotiations were attempted at gunpoint, then how consensus could be reached. “Before meeting Fazlur Rehman Sahib, I was hopeful that we might be able to reach an agreement; however, if there is an impression of setting up a panchayat or negotiating team at gunpoint, then how can we be successful,” he said while addressing a press conference at the Zardari House, Islamabad.

Bilawal said the PPP supported elections on the same day and was ready to talk with everyone for this purpose. This was because if the elections were held ahead of time in one province at the behest of one party, it will have a negative impact on the entire country. “All the PDM parties stand by the decisions of parliament,” he said. “Our negotiation efforts are still in the process and a summit meeting of all parties will be held after Eid. Our stance has been that elections should be held at one time,” he said.

He said in contrast, the PTI obtained a stay from the Peshawar, Lahore and Sindh High Courts that elections should not be held in their constituencies before 60 days. “During Imran Khan’s tenure, the court’s order on the local bodies elections in Punjab was not obeyed. In Sindh, we could not even elect our own mayor despite passage of months since the elections,” Bilawal continued.

The PPP chairman said he was constantly striving for a consensus and had formed a committee comprising Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani, Naveed Qamar and Qamar Zaman Kaira. “I also went to Dera Ismail Khan to meet Fazlur Rehman,” he said.

He said it was becoming difficult to agree on a couple of matters among the allies.

“We are trying our best; we have been doing it before, we are doing it now. Even today, we understand that democracy is in danger if no solution can be found through political dialogue,” he said. He said if there was political stability in the country, there will be economic stability.

“The common man has no interest in whether it was a 4-3 or 3-2 decision; he is only concerned about bread for his children. We want to rid our people of these problems of the people,” he said.

Unfortunately, Bilawal said instead of focusing on the economic situation or the flood victims’ rehabilitation, they became involved in other issues. He said the judiciary had never been so divided in the history of Pakistan. “I hope before retiring, the chief justice creates a consensus among his judges just like creating consensus among the political parties,” he said.

Bilawal said if the chief justice were to forge a consensus among his judges before retiring, he would earn himself a place in history. He said Pakistan’s democracy was young and definitely there were dangers. “We are earlier trying to get the allies on the same page in terms of negotiations as we face difficulties in reaching a consensus on negotiations,” he said.