ISLAMABAD: The NAP President, Mr Abdul Wali Khan, said here today [Jan 29], “by starting the talks with the President, we have set the ball rolling and it is very important”. Mr Wali Khan who, along with Mir Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo, had talks with President Z. A. Bhutto in Lahore twice yesterday, said that there must be another meeting with the President, but no date had been fixed.

Mr Wali Khan, however, said that there was a genuine desire on both sides to arrive at a settlement. … Replying to a question whether he was hopeful after the talks, Mr Wali Khan said, “one has to be an optimist to exist in this country.”

He also suggested that in the Constituent Assembly, when the Constitution is taken up, each Member should be allowed to vote according to his conscience and no one should be restricted by party line. All Members should go to the Constituent Assembly as Pakistanis and not as members of the NAP or any other party, he said, and added that on the Constitution there must be national consensus. Asked if the Opposition boycott of the National Assembly will continue when it meets as the constitution-making body, he said, “it has yet to be considered”. … They [the Opposition parties] will meet again tomorrow. — Special Representative

Published in Dawn, January 30th, 2023