- Former PM criticises election process, saying results displayed on Form 47 have turned elections into a mockery
ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister and head of Awam Pakistan Party (APP), Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Sunday called for dialogue between Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and the Army Chief to resolve the pressing challenges faced by the country, emphasising the country’s development hinges on respecting public opinion.
“The country will progress only when the people’s voice is honoured,” Abbasi asserted while talking to the media in Kallar Syedan here on Sunday. He criticised the election process, saying the results displayed on Form 47 have turned elections into a mockery.
Abbasi’s remarks come amid ongoing debates over political reconciliation and governance in Pakistan.
A day earlier, Advisor to Prime Minister on Political and Public Affairs Rana Sanaullah suggested that if heads of the three major political parties — the PTI, PML-N and PPP — sit around the table for negotiations, 70-year-long crises being faced by the country would be resolved in a span of mere 70 days.
“The multifarious crises that have surrounded the country for 70 years would stand resolved if negotiation committee comprising former premiers – Nawaz Sharif, Imran Khan and President Asif Ali Zardari sit together,” Rana Sanaullah emphasized while addressing a ceremony in Lahore on Saturday.
The APP chief expressed concern over the country’s governance, stating, “A nation cannot be run in the manner Pakistan is being managed.” He also criticised the manipulation of the stock market, saying, “Artificially raising the stock index benefits no one, even if it soars to the skies.”
Highlighting the influence of the military in Pakistan’s political landscape, Abbasi stated, “The Army Chief holds the real power. The challenges facing the country will only be resolved when Imran Khan and the Army Chief sit together to find solutions.”
“Nawaz Sharif’s name should be there […] Imran Khan’s name should be there and Asif Ali Zardari’s name should be there,” Rana Sanaullah had said.
“We, the politicians, should sit together. The problem is that before we sit down, it is very important that the mistakes that were made by the people who are sitting down are accepted.”
He said that two documents — the 1973 Constitution and the charter of democracy — were important political documents.
In the charter of democracy, both leaders — PPP’s Benazir Bhutto and PML-N’s Nawaz Sharif — accepted their mistakes and then the conversation moved forward, PM’s aide Sanaullah said.
He said that the PTI claims that its mandate was stolen and it should be returned.
“Only yesterday, you (PTI) had [the mandate]. Why did you not speak then?” the PML-N leader said.
“We do want to make them [negotiations] successful with complete sincerity,” Sanaullah said, adding that if “today’s grievances are to be accepted then yesterday’s should also be accepted”.
