“Prime Minister Shehbaz has not set any condition of minus Imran Khan [from politics]. We neither seek to minus anyone nor consider it politically viable. Similar efforts were made to sideline us in the past,” Sanaullah said while speaking on a private news channel.
He added that, as leader of the House, the prime minister had formally offered negotiations to the opposition, maintaining that dialogue was central to parliamentary democracy.
Sanaullah said the senior leadership of the opposition, particularly PTI, would need to take the first step forward, noting that facilitating dialogue on behalf of the president, the PML-N leadership and the establishment was the prime minister’s responsibility.
“The PM has invited the opposition to meet in the National Assembly chamber if they do not want to visit [his office],” he said.
Responding to questions about his remarks a day earlier, Sanaullah said the prime minister must have taken Nawaz Sharif, Asif Ali Zardari and the establishment into confidence before extending the offer of dialogue to the opposition.
However, he said that despite efforts by the opposition alliance Tehreek Tahafuz Ayeen-i-Pakistan (TTAP) and PTI’s second- and third-tier leadership, meaningful engagement could not materialise unless there was a shift in the PTI founder’s stance.
Sanaullah maintained that the PTI founder had not authorised anyone to hold negotiations, adding that his message, conveyed through his sister Aleema Khan, was that “anyone who talks about negotiations is not among us”.
He said the PTI founder had instead issued a call for street agitation and a wheel-jam strike, and had directed Sohail Afridi to visit Punjab, Balochistan and Sindh to mobilise supporters.