Adviser to Prime Minister on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah on Monday said that negotiations with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) could resume if the former ruling party assures “positive progress” on the counter-terrorism policy.
The latest round of talks between the government and opposition ended in deadlock early Sunday, with both sides blaming each other for the breakdown.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Sunday had accused Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi of attempting to sabotage negotiations between the PTI and the federal government.
PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja had claimed that the primary reason for the failure of the talks was the federal government’s insistence that all anti-terrorism actions it unilaterally initiated in KP must be owned by the provincial government.
Speaking on Geo News programme “Capital Talk” today, Sanaullah said that the federal government had the constitutional authority to formulate policy on terrorism, while provincial governments were bound to follow it.
“The provincial government will have to play its role in this policy against terrorism at all costs,” he said.
He said the military and political leadership had decided to take the war against terrorism to its conclusion.
“Political issues, the PTI founder’s health and matters concerning meetings had been settled,” Sanaullah said.
Responding to a question, the PM’s aide said that the government had agreed on a meeting between the PTI founder and his personal doctors, adding that the party had been told to approach the court regarding the personal physicians.
Sanaullah said PTI representatives had initially agreed that the federal government would formulate the policy, but later demanded that the policy should be based on “consensus”.
“This is the federal government’s authority to formulate policy on external aggression,” he said, adding that the PTI’s position on the matter was “constitutionally and legally incorrect”.
