In his first press conference after leaving the Presidency, Dr Arif Alvi said on Sunday that he was still trying to bridge the gap between the establishment and the PTI.

Addressing the media at his residence in Karachi, Dr Alvi also stressed the need to take positive steps to bring the country together, calling on both the government and the powers that be to recognise the mandate given to his party.

“If you’ve heard my speeches [in the recent past], I have been talking about bringing the country together and the most important step towards this would be recognising [PTI’s] mandate.”

When asked what he did to bridge the divide between his party and the establishment, the former president said that he tried his best to patch things up.

“I gave it my all… tried to resolve things from every angle. I tried in every meeting, some [meetings] were public, others were not,” he said, insisting that he had done everything he could to resolve issues between the two sides. However, he conceded that his efforts did not bear fruit.

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