ISLAMABAD: The federal government has extended an olive branch to the joint opposition, inviting it to sit with it for talks on the issue of electoral reforms and asking it to take back its decision of long march.

The offer was made by Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry at a joint press conference with Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Shibli Faraz on Sunday.

Mr Chuadhry said long march was “unlawful” under the Charter of Democracy signed between Nawaz Sharif and Shaheed Benazir Bhutto. “We can sacrifice our government for the sake of democracy,” he remarked, while Senator Faraz said that at a time when Covid cases had witnessed a resurge, some “political orphans were trying to create instability” in the country.

The minister for science and technology said ups and downs were part of politics but one should not cross the red lines after a defeat. He said leader of the main opposition party Javed Latif was merely a puppet of his political masters. There would have been no issue if the Senate elections had been held through open ballot, he said, adding that those who wanted to follow the MQM founder must see his fate. He said the alleged anti-Pakistan statement of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Javed Latif was highly painful and condemnable, which was a clear negation of the popular slogan of ‘Pakistan Khappay’ raised by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Asif Ali Zardari after the martyrdom of Benazir Bhutto.

Asks opposition parties to call off long march

He said both Mr Sharif and [MQM founder] Altaf Hussain were the gifts of the 1980s politics and they had no political principles when it was the matter of getting vested political interests for them. It was very unfortunate that national politics had been held hostage by politically immature leaders, he added.

Senator Faraz said that at a time when a resurgence of coronavirus cases had been recorded, some “political orphans” were trying to create instability in the country. In the first phase of their agitation, the opposition parties claimed that they would hold a long march, tender resignations from the assemblies, but nothing happened. He said the entire protest movement just fizzled out as the masses had rejected them.

He believed that the PDM leadership was frustrated over the vote of confidence of Prime Minister Imran Khan and suffered more humiliation in the recent elections of Senate chairman and deputy chairman. He said they were trying to create unrest in the country as they see their political death in stability and economic development of Pakistan.

He claimed that economic indicators were very positive and the economy was stable once again despite the coronavirus factor and this was due to Prime Minister Imran Khan and his government’s best strategy of saving lives as well as keeping the wheel of economy moving during the pandemic. The strategy was appreciated at the international level, he added.

About the marked difference between the prices of flour, oil, sugar and other items of daily use in 2018 when the PTI came to power and at present, the information minister said the price hike was the result of the lopsided policies of the past regimes when only big projects such as roads and bridges had been materialised for “kickbacks” and state institutions faced decay. PM Khan attached topmost importance to provision of relief to the masses and prices of some items had come down also, he claimed.

Also, he said, climate change and low wheat production were among the reasons for food inflation.

While talking to Dawn, Minister Chaudhry later explained that an election reforms act was pending in the parliament for debate in which the government had proposed holding of polls through electronic machines, right of vote to overseas Pakistanis, curtailment of powers of presiding officers etc.

Asked if the PTI government was ready to hold dialogue with the opposition on all other important national issues as well, the minister said: “The government has so far offered the opposition to sit with the ruling alliance for electoral reforms only. I just asked the opposition to attend a meeting of parliamentary committee on election reforms to improve election system in the country.”

However, he added, Speaker of the National Assembly Asad Qaisar had formed an elders’ committee of the parliament having representation of all parliamentary parties. That committee would also hold meetings on all important national issues, he explained.

Published in Dawn, March 15th, 2021