Former PTI chief Fawad Chaudhry. Photo: AFP/FILE
Former federal minister Fawad Chaudhry reiterated the need for dialogue, stressing that negotiations are essential for the stability of the country. He called on the Prime Minister and the President to take ownership of the negotiation process.
Speaking to the media after attending the trial, Chaudhry said the entire PTI leadership, including Shah Mahmood Qureshi, supported the talks.
Criticizing the government, he said it relied on “daily spectacles” to stay relevant and questioned how the country could function when people were facing sentences totaling “thousands of years”.
He also expressed disappointment at what he described as a lack of seriousness from the opposition and urged party leaders to show courage if they had accepted their responsibilities.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has reportedly given the go-ahead to National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq to continue negotiations between the government and the PTI, sources said on Wednesday, a significant development in efforts to cool political temperatures.
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Parliamentary sources said the government agreed to participate in the talks at the request of the Speaker of Parliament. However, the discussions will only take place with elected representatives of the PTI, while no engagement is planned with non-elected figures of the party.
Despite the government’s desire, the sources said, no PTI leader has yet officially contacted the president’s office to begin the negotiation process, and initial outreach efforts remain pending from the opposition.
Chaudhry praised Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi for showing responsibility but termed a recent statement attributed to Sohail Afridi as unfortunate. He said the political struggle was between the government and the opposition, while ordinary Pakistanis bore the cost.
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He added that the party’s real actors were in prison, while those he called “guest actors” continued to travel abroad. Reiterating that PTI leaders had already called for talks, he said the government should reduce political tensions to make negotiations possible.
Highlighting the economic situation, he said household survey data indicated that nearly 30 percent of Pakistanis were unable to afford three meals a day, reflecting the severity of the crisis. He added that no overseas Pakistani was currently willing to invest even a single dollar due to the prevailing uncertainty.
Meanwhile, an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Lahore extended Chaudhry’s provisional release until February 13 in seven cases related to the May 9 violence. The court approved the extension after confirming his attendance and adjourned the matter until the next hearing.
