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Updated May 30th, 2023 at 21:05 IST

Pak PM Shehbaz Sharif rejects Imran Khan's fence-mending offer, calls him 'Anarchist'

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday hinted that his government was unwilling to talk with Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, saying the "anarchists and arsonists" who wear the garb of politicians and attack the symbols of the state do not qualify for a dialogue.

Shehbaz Sharif
Shehbaz Sharif (Image: AP) | Image:self
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Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday hinted that his government was unwilling to talk with Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, saying the "anarchists and arsonists" who wear the garb of politicians and attack the symbols of the state do not qualify for a dialogue.

Khan, 70, who was ousted via a vote of no confidence in April last year, said he is ready to speak to "anyone who is in power" after his party's top leaders began to quit the party following the May 9 riots in which sensitive military installations were attacked. 

Khan, the chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party constituted a seven-member team to hold talks with the government - for developing a consensus on a date for general elections - amid a massive crackdown on his party for the May 9 violence following his arrest in a corruption case.  

Prime Minister Sharif in a tweet acknowledged that dialogue is deeply embedded in the political process, which helps democracy mature and evolve.

"Many political and constitutional breakthroughs occurred when political leaders sat across the table to craft a consensus," Sharif, the President of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party said without naming anyone.

But he said there is a major difference when it comes to the party led by Khan.

"The anarchists & arsonists who wear the garb of politicians and attack the symbols of the State do not qualify for a dialogue. They should rather be held to account for their militant actions," he said.

Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb also rejected the PTI chief's offer for talks, Geo News reported.

Dialogue cannot be held with those who set the country on fire, create chaos and anarchy, fill the minds of masses with hatred and harbour armed groups," she said.

She said that Khan was not appealing for negotiations, he was, in fact, seeking a National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO).

The NRO was a controversial ordinance issued by former president General Pervez Musharraf in 2007 to grant amnesty to politicians, political workers, and bureaucrats who were accused of corruption, money laundering, and murder.

The information minister said talks cannot be held with those who poisoned the minds of the youth, the "leaders of the criminals and terrorists".

Khan's party has been facing the heat of the state's might after his party workers burnt and smashed military installations, including the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, after his arrest on May 9  a day the Army dubbed as Black Day.

Several party leaders and thousands of workers have been rounded up in connection with the violent protests.

Earlier this month, the National Assembly, the lower house of Pakistan's Parliament, passed a resolution vowing to try May 9 rioters under the existing laws including the stringent Army Act and the Official Secrets Act.

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Published May 30th, 2023 at 21:05 IST

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