Rahbar body says talks only if govt accepts right to protest

PESHAWAR: The Rahbar Committee of the opposition parties has decided that talks with the government will be held only after the latter accepts the right to peaceful protest. A meeting of the Rahbar Committee was held in in the federal capital at the residence of its convener Akram Khan Durrani, who is currently the opposition leader in KP Assembly and central leader of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) which has announced a march on Islamabad and sit-in against the federal government. Akram Durrani said while talking to media after the meeting that the government has formed a committee for talks with the opposition, but it seems that the government is not serious in talks. He said non-seriousness of the committee is obvious from the statements of Prime Minister Imran Khan about the opposition leaders.

Akram Durrani said there will be no compromise on the Azadi March. He assured that the march will be peaceful; therefore, the government must not put impediments and accept the right of opposition to stage peaceful protest. He warned the government to desist from impeding the march, otherwise the situation may go out of control. He said the opposition leaders are well aware of the situation on border and they will never allow the enemy to enter Pakistan.

The JUI-F leader said the demands of the opposition parties are the same which were presented in the all parties conference. He said the government should contact Rahbar Committee if it wants to hold talks. He said no talks will be held if even a single member of Rahbar Committee was not included in talks.

The APC participants expressed concern over the health of incarcerated party leaders such as Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz and Asif Ali Zardari.

Meanwhile, Rahbar Committee apprised head of the government’s negotiations team, Pervaiz Khattak, of their demands.

Akram Durrani apprised Khattak of their demands during a telephonic conversation, a private TV channel reported while quoting sources. Durrani told Khattak that their demands were the same and they stood firm on their stance.

Sources were quoted as saying that the Rahbar Committee head also had a telephonic conversation with Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani in this regard.

Meanwhile, the government negotiations team held a meeting at the Presidency to chalk out strategy for talks with the opposition’s Rahbar Committee.