ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leadership reiterated on Wednesday that the party was ready to sit down with the government for talks in order to forge a consensus to get the country out of the prevailing quagmire.

The leaders, however, cast doubts on the ruling coalition’s intentions in this regard.

They said the government wanted to hold elections neither on May 14 nor on Oct 8 as there was no consensus within the “widely fractured” Pak­istan Democratic Movement (PDM) about the timing of the exercise.

In a statement on Wednesday, PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qu­­r­eshi and Senior Vice President Faw­ad Chaudhry said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s statement had cleared whatever doubt there was left about the government’s unwillingness to hold talks with the opposition or conduct elections in keeping with constitutional provisions.

“We are willing to sit down with the government for negotiations in the nation’s best interests,” Mr Qureshi said.

He went on to say that Ayaz Sadiq and Saad Rafique were nominated by the government itself to hold talks with the PTI, but now they were “backing out of their commitment” to holding negotiations.

In his reaction to Shehbaz Sharif’s statement, Fawad Chaudhry said the prime minister was talking about holding elections in October, but the Constitution mandated that polls must be held within 90 days of the dissolution of an assembly.

Fawad said the cabinet had two options: either amend the Constitu­tion with a two-thirds majority or hold elections in Punjab and KP on May 14, as per the apex court’s order. He said the Constitution cannot be suspended through statements and resolutions.

Published in Dawn, April 27th, 2023