ISLAMABAD: Urging the government to formally initiate talks with the protesting Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Khursheed Ahmed Shah said on Tuesday that he was ready to play the role of a mediator, if asked to.

Talking to reporters here on Tuesday, the PPP leader expressed grief over the violence in Faisalabad and warned that clashes between political workers could lead the country towards ‘civil war’. He also criticised the government for its poor handling of the situation in Faisalabad.

Mr Shah said Finance Minister Ishaq Dar had told him that the government was willing to hold dialogue, but the PTI leadership was not ready to give up its protest. He said he had advised Mr Dar to formally invite the PTI to resume talks, irrespective of what the party does at its protests – which he felt the PTI wanted to continue to use as a pressure tactic.

He said he had told the minister that he was ready to play the role of a negotiator to bring the two sides back to the negotiating table in the larger interests of the country, if the government so desired.

Mr Shah also advised PTI chief Imran Khan to take the matter of the four Election Commission members to the Supreme Judicial Council and declared that the PPP would support the PTI if it did so. The chief election commissioner, he said, had no powers to remove the members.

He accused the election tribunals that were hearing election-related disputes of being responsible for the current political crisis and asked the newly appointed CEC to take notice of the delay in decisions on pending election petitions.

Mr Shah also alleged that the tribunals were headed by retired judges who were intentionally delaying the cases to continue to draw their salaries and called for the appointment of serving judges as heads of election tribunals.

“The government does nothing where it is required to and does too much where it is required to do nothing,” Mr Shah mused while talking about the government’s inability to end the current political impasse.

The PPP leader also took the opportunity to warn Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif against those within his own party who were working against the party’s interests.

He clarified that the PPP was only supporting the system, parliament and the state, and not the government. “It’s not just us, all other parties are also doing the same,” he added.

Mr Shah denied reports about the differences between PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and his father, Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari. “In the past, there had been reports of differences between Mr Zardari and Benazir Bhutto; now there are reports about differences between father and son,” he said.

Published in Dawn, December 10th, 2014