Islamabad: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday invited the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf for talks to resolve contentious issues through dialogue, as he urged the party founded by jailed former premier Imran Khan to call off its long march to Islamabad.
Sharif issued the call for talks two days after the PTI launched its long march from Lakki Marwat town of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa with the intention to make it to the national capital in the coming days to give a sit-in to press the government to set Khan free.
Addressing a gathering in Islamabad, the prime minister said that unfortunately the “dreadful shadows” of long marches were moving again despite efforts to resolve the political issues through negotiations.
Khan's party held talks for two consecutive days with the representatives of the government and its ally, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) of President Asif Ali Zardari, to find a peaceful solution to political differences.
"Unfortunately, that did not happen. They (PTI) only had one purpose: to ensure that the talks do not succeed,” Sharif said, adding that the opposition party demanded changes to things already settled upon during the talks.
Earlier, the second round of talks between the two sides began on Saturday afternoon and continued through the ensuing night. However, it was announced early Sunday morning that the talks collapsed on the issue of access to Khan, who has been in jail since August 2023.
Khan's party demanded a meeting with him in jail before calling off the protest, while the government insisted on wrapping up the protest before any meeting, according to informed sources.
After the failure of the talks, the PTI launched its protest caravan, which is still in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the province where the party is in power, and is expected to move towards the capital before the weekend.
Sources said the backdoor channels have been working to sort out the differences as both sides want to avoid a confrontation between the people and security agencies.
The government had threatened to use force to stop the march, which may result in clashes.
Sharif also said that the protest would harm the economy, which is still recovering after narrowly avoiding the default in 2023.
"We collectively improved the economy in 2.5 years and reached macroeconomic stability. Now is the time for it to flourish,” he added.