ISLAMABAD: A senior leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Senator retired Lt Gen Abdul Qayyum, has asked the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government to share with parliament details of the ongoing Afghan peace process and other important issues of the country.

Talking to reporters, he described the Afghan peace process as highly encouraging, observing that the Americans had realised that they could not bring peace to Afghanistan through the barrel of the gun.

“This is a step in the right direction,” he remarked and stressed the need for efforts to dispel the impression that Pakistan had full control over the Taliban. He said Pakistan might not have ideal relations with the incoming government in Afghanistan, if the Taliban come to power. “Seventeen years have passed, and the relationship depends on how the Taliban view developments during the period,” he added.

PML-N leader believes PTI government is without a roadmap on how to run country’s affairs

Referring to what he called a stinking message shared by the Afghan president on Twitter, Mr Qayyum said Ashraf Ghani appeared to be frustrated by seeing that power might go out of his hand.

He asked the government to share with parliament details of the US-Taliban talks and other key issues. “Ashraf Ghani’s damaging tweets, foreign-funded anti-state movements, worsening law and order situation, acute internal political polarisation, ever-aggravating economic challenges, price hike and inflated gas bills warrant the government in power to bring these issues to parliament for desired deliberations and guidance.”

He was of the view that the situation in the country necessitated a change in the government’s attitude which, he regretted, was not visible. While referring to a “domestic quandary”, Mr Qayyum said: “We wish the government does not make mistakes of the past. A government-in-waiting keeps on doing its homework concerning foreign policy challenges and economic dynamics.”

He said that homework by the PTI was not visible and that the party’s government appeared to be in a state of confusion. The PTI government was without a roadmap on how to run the affairs, he added. He said it was still not clear if the government would approach the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout package or not, and if not, what would be the blue-print. About the talk of tough conditions set by the IMF, he said if the conditions were unacceptable, they should be shared with parliament. “Quick decisions have to be taken,” he remarked.

The PML-N leader said the government seemed to be directionless, with lawmakers belonging to it behaving in a strange manner. He recalled that a PTI lawmaker had recently called for recognising Israel. He said foreign policy could not be formulated single-handedly and there was a need to debate contours of the foreign policy in parliament.

Published in Dawn, February 9th, 2019