ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Interior Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said on Monday that the government’s doors were still open for talks with the opposition, but chided the political opponents for the way they were behaving.

He said the government was ready for talks with the opposition on all issues except corruption cases against them and the NRO. He slammed the opposition for declaring that it did not want talks with Prime Minister Imran Khan.

“Tell us who you wish to speak to so that we can make an arrangement,” he said while speaking at a press conference here.

The minister was referring to the statements made by opposition leaders at the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) public meeting at Minar-i-Pakistan in Lahore on Sunday.

Achakzai criticised for remarks against Lahorites

During Sunday’s rally, PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said that “the time for dialogue is over and now there will be a long march”. PML-N’s Maryam Nawaz had also questioned PM Khan’s offer for talks through parliament.

“We are a democratically-elected government destined to achieve goals of progress and prosperity. We do not want to close doors for talks and want to find a way for peace and economic stability,” the interior minister said.

He praised the people of Lahore for showing responsibility and said the opposition would have faced a lot of disappointment had children from madressahs not turned up at the PDM public meeting.

“They had to face the death of their politics at the same place they used to make tall claims,” Sheikh Rashid said. Commenting on the opposition’s decision to submit resignations, he asked them to do it as quick as possible.

About the opposition’s announcement for a march on Islamabad, the minister said: “Please come. Islamabad is also yours [...] we will do whatever the law and the Constitution allow us to do.”

Sheikh Rashid said that the opposition had said nothing new at the Lahore rally. However, commenting on the speech made by PkMAP chief Mehmood Achakzai, the minister said that the remarks were “irresponsible”.

He said that sometimes those who lost elections developed mental health issues.

The minister said the opposition was staging rallies only to protect its ill-gotten wealth. He said billions of rupees were being spent on public rallies to achieve the objective, but such tactics would not work.

“Imran Khan has explicitly said that he will leave his seat but will not give the opposition an NRO. He directed me to say this during the press conference [that] the sun can rise from the West and set in the East [...] but he will not give them an NRO.”

Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry suggested on Monday that the government should hold talks with the opposition.

“The narrative of the opposition has died after yesterday’s public meeting in Lahore. It is high time the government should give way to the opposition and start negotiations with them,” he tweeted.

Fawad Chaudhry, alongside prime minister’s aide Shahbaz Gill, also held a press conference on Monday where he said that Prime Minister Imran Khan had called parliament an excellent forum for holding talks.

He said that those in parliament needed to review their current strategy. “Only a fool would consider it a weakness when the government talks about dialogue”. He stressed the importance of sitting down to discuss big issues.

He said that throughout her speech, Maryam Nawaz talked about herself, her father, her uncle and her brother, besides criticising the prime minister.

Mr Chaudhry also termed Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) chief Mehmood Khan Achakzai an anti-Punjab character and regretted that he spoke ill of Lahorites in front of the people of Punjab.

“Mehmood Khan Achakzai is not only anti-Pakistan himself but his father, Samad Khan Achakzai, also worked for the Congress during the pre-partition era,” he said. “He came to Lahore only to speak against Punjab.”

The PkMAP chief had accused the people of Lahore of siding with the British, along with Hindus and Sikhs, during the pre-partition era.

Published in Dawn, December 15th, 2020