Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Senator Nasir Butt said on Friday that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had earlier refused negotiations but is now itself engaging in talks.
Speaking to the media at the Rawalpindi Press Club, Butt said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had invited the PTI to negotiations, a responsibility taken up by Mahmood Khan Achakzai. He added that PTI founder Imran Khan was telling the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister to prepare for street marches.
Butt questioned what solution could emerge from such thinking and conduct, adding that the offer of talks by PM Shehbaz was welcomed. He said that the PML-N had been calling for dialogue for the past two years, which the PTI had earlier rejected but was now accepting. He also questioned the PTI’s track record and asked whether any agreement reached with the party would be honoured.
The PML-N leader said the annual losses of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) had become unbearable for the government. He said airlines across the world had been privatised and that the same was necessary in Pakistan. He added that the government would still retain 25 per cent of the PIA shares. He also said the privatisation of Pakistan Steel Mills should take place.
