ISLAMABAD: The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Monday once again invited the opposition to sit with it to resolve all major issues, including electoral reforms, but said it will not provide relief in corruption cases against their leadership.
Talking to journalists in Faisalabad, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry invited the opposition parties for dialogue on electoral reforms, the appointment of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chief and judicial reforms.
The federal minister said that the government will welcome the Opposition’s suggestions for amendments in the accountability law, reforms in the judiciary, adding that political parties agreed with the government on more than two-third of electoral reforms proposed.
However, Fawad Chauhdry, added that the government would not compromise on its accountability drive. “If the Opposition wants relief in graft cases in return for talks on these reforms, then it is a non-starter,” the minister added.
The minister further said the PTI was elected on promises of accountability and bringing back the looted wealth, so it is obvious that Prime Minister Imran Khan and his party would not settle for anything less than that.
“I think the failure of major political parties is not benefitting Pakistan…this is paving way for the rise of sectarian political parties, which would hurt Pakistan in the future,” the information minister added.
He continued, “People should be given hope that the parliament can resolve people’s issues instead of giving an impression that it is an “arena” where ruckus is created every day.”
Fawad said the premier believed in transparent elections and the government wanted to create a system to ensure that. After the local government polls in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), the upcoming LG polls in Punjab will be fair as well, the minister added.
Meanwhile, he also accused the PPP of depriving the Sindh’s people of health cards for the sake of politics. “Sindh chief minister didn’t want the health card to be launched in the province because it would apparently dent his party’s political stature,” he added.
