LAHORE: PTI Vice President Fawad Chaudhry on Friday asked the coalition government to “decide a date and venue” for a meeting to bring together all political parties to rid the country of the ongoing political as well as economic turmoil.
Fawad Ch’s tweet coincided with the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) which said it was “ready to convene” an All-Parties Conference for defusing the current political turmoil.
In a tweet Friday, PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry said, “Azam Nazeer Tarar is making statements every day to sit together and solve issues. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has also asked for talks.”
اعظم نذیر تارڑ روز بیان دے رہے ہیں کہ مل کر بیٹھیں اور مسائل کا حل کریں وزیر اعظم شہباز شریف نے بھی بات چیت کا کہا ہے اس عمل کو بیان سے آگے بھی بڑھائیں اور جماعتوں کو ملنے کی تاریخ اور مقام دیں عمران خان پہلے ہی مذاکرات کی حمایت کر چکے ہیں
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) March 17, 2023
“Take this action further than statements as well and give a date and venue for the [political] parties to meet. Imran Khan has already favoured dialogues,” he added.
His tweet comes a day after PTI Chairman Imran Khan struck a conciliatory tone, saying he was ready to “talk to anyone” and “render any sacrifice” for the sake of the country.
ہماری جانب سے بات چیت کے دروازے ہمیشہ کھلے رہیں گے، تمام فریقین کو آپس میں بیٹھ کر انتخابات کی شرائط طے کر نی چاہیے کیونکہ یہ واحد راستہ ہے ملک کو بہتری کی جانب لے کر جانے کا،پی ٹی آئی رہنما فواد چوہدری کی گفتگو#BOLNews #AisayNahiChalayGa@Dr_fizakhan@fawadchaudhry@PTIofficial pic.twitter.com/W9mhcYmexE
— BOL Network (@BOLNETWORK) March 16, 2023
“I will not shy away from any sacrifice for the sake of Pakistan’s uplift, interest and democracy. In this regard, I am willing to talk to anyone and take every step towards it,” the former premier had tweeted.
پاکستان کی ترقی، مفادات اور جمہوریت کیلئے میں کسی قربانی سے گریز نہیں کروں گا، اس ضمن میں، میں کسی سے بھی بات کرنے کیلئے تیار ہوں اور اس جانب میں ہر قدم اٹھانے کیلئے تیار ہوں
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) March 16, 2023
Imran’s tweet had come a day after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had once again extended an olive branch to him on Wednesday, emphasising that “all political forces will have to sit together to take the country forward”.
Fawad also reiterated the call for a meeting date and venue while speaking outside the Lahore High Court later today.
Addressing the premier and Federal Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, he said: “You are making statements [so] you should move forward with it. Whatever venue [you decide and if there is an] invitation, Asad Umar is here. You talk, we are ready for that.”
The last time the conversation of all parties coming together had emerged was when the prime minister had called an All Parties Conference (APC) in February and had invited the country’s political leadership, including Imran, to discuss ways to overcome the challenges the country was facing.
Separately, the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) on Friday said it was “ready to convene” an All-Parties Conference for defusing the current political turmoil in the country.
In a press release issued on Friday, it said the PBC was “ready to convene All Parties Conference and to invite all the central leadership of parliamentary parties to reconcile their disputes through dialogue and to hold free, fair and transparent elections to all Assemblies on a mutually agreed timeframe”.
It quoted PBC Vice-Chairman Haroonur Rashid and Chairman Executive Committee Hassan Raza Pasha as saying that “all parliamentary should resolve their disputes through dialogue and pay attention to other major public issues like inflation, devaluation of currency and unemployment, etc”.
The PBC asserted it and the legal fraternity have “offered services for mediation among parliamentary parties in past through All Parties Conference (APC) and will continue to do so”.
Saying the “country cannot afford to further linger on prevailing tensions”, the statement quoted Rashid and Pasha endorsing the “message of civil society and their invitation to form an informal Group of Mediators to engage with all parliamentary parties to start a reconciliation process to forge a national consensus” on holding elections.
