Sarwar hopes PDM will come to negotiating table

LAHORE: Punjab Governor Ch Muhammad Sarwar has said the opposition parties will enter dialogue with the government in January 2021 and they will not have to resort to resignations or a long march.

Responding to the media at the Polo Club, Racecourse Park here on Sunday, he said dialogue was the only solution and it was hoped that the opposition would come to the negotiation table.

The opposition parties in the PDM were yet undecided whether to go for a long-march or tender resignations from assemblies, he responded, adding that the opposition parties were not in unison. About Nawaz Sharif’s repatriation to the country, Sarwar said he was not a seer and could predict anything about the return of Nawaz Sharif to Pakistan to face trial.

He said the federal government was taking care of the matter and was in touch with the Britain. About Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, Sarwar said Sheikh Rashid was the interior minister of the country and he was well versed about Nawaz Sharif’s return as he looked into the case directly.

On working relationship with the chief minister, he said he was on the same page with Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar, adding that the provincial bureaucracy was subservient to the chief executive of the province.

To another question, the governor said the opposition was playing politics for the vested interests, adding that their rallies and public meetings had nothing to do with people. On accountability, he said the government was, in no way, involved in the accountability of the opposition leadership, adding that the institutions were independent and the government believed in the supremacy of law and the constitution.

To a question, Ch Sarwar said the sports grounds had once again been populated, adding that the world saw Pakistan as a peaceful country today. He said the English and South African cricket teams would visit Pakistan the next year to play bilateral series. He said the confidence of the international sporting fraternity had increased in Pakistan, adding many foreign payers came to play polo while first-ever international boxing competitions were held in the Governor House in which boxers from four foreign countries participated.