Prime Minister’s Adviser on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah said on Thursday that “confidence-building measures” between five major players in the country would improve the overall political situation.

The PTI earlier said that it will not engage in negotiations with the federal government. Party Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram said the stance was taken following the instructions of party founder Imran Khan.

“Two of them are my leaders, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Nawaz Sharif. The third is President Asif Ali Zardari, the fourth is [incarcerated PTI leader] Imran Khan, and everyone knows who the fifth is,” Sanaullah said while speaking on Geo News Capital Talk on Thursday.

He said the efforts at the level of leaders like him and PTI’s chief whip in the National Assembly, Malik Amir Dogar, would continue, but until confidence among the top leaders is established, the political situation would not see a breakthrough.

Sanaullah added that confidence-building measures would be possible only when social media accounts propagating a hate campaign against the army and its leadership are shut down.

“The PTI leadership can’t evade responsibility [for these accounts] … They have to disown them,” he said, adding that PTI could instead initiate propaganda against political parties.

He further said that the PTI should withdraw its call for a wheel-jam strike on February 8, as it would be a “failure” and would further “damage the situation”.

In response to Sanaullah, Dogar said the government should arrange a meeting between PkMAP chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai, MWM chief Allama Raja Nasir Abbas, and incarcerated PTI leader Imran Khan. “Hopefully, a path will be made,” he added.

“If these five leaders meet the conflict can be resolved,” added Dogar, without specifying which five leaders he was referring to.

‘Outright rejected negotiations’

Separately, PTI Central Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram, while speaking on Dawn News Dosra Rukh, denied any contacts with the government regarding negotiations.

“We have outright rejected the negotiations,” he said, adding that Imran Khan had stated the PTI would not negotiate with a Form-47 government.

“The decision on whether to hold negotiations with the government rests with Achakzai and Abbas, as they welcomed it in the statement issued by the TTAP after the national conference,” he said.

In response to another question on PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar’s statement regarding meetings with Imran Khan, Akram said: “PTI is dealing with frustration due to his statement, and this is clearly visible outside Adiala prison, where a crowd gathers every Tuesday. FIRs are lodged, people are arrested, yet workers gather the following week.”

Earlier in December, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif reiterated his offer for talks with the opposition but also emphasised that dialogue between the two sides could only proceed on “legitimate matters”.

At a recent national conference, organised by the TTAP alliance, participants had agreed that the door for dialogue must never be closed in a democracy.

The same day, political leaders, including ruling PML-N stalwarts, from across the spectrum called for dialogue and restraint to achieve stability in the country, saying that political confrontation was causing instability and violence.

The matter of talks between the opposition, mainly the PTI, and the government has been in the news since last year.