Parliament right forum for politicians to initiate dialogue: Kundi

F.P. Report

DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Minister of State for Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Faisal Karim Kundi on Wednesday said dialogue was a political process which was pursued by the political parties and even countries resolved their differences and issues through talks.

The Parliament was the right forum for the politicians to initiate dialogue and it was not for “the judiciary to arrange their talks”, he said while addressing a press conference here at the Circuit House.

“There is no room for recording of private telephone calls of anyone in an independent state but unfortunately, it is being done in our country,” he said and called for forensic investigation into the illegal activity to fix responsibility.

“The recent audio leaks of judges’ family members raise many questions on the judicial system,” he added. Kundi said the coalition government partners had concerns regarding negotiations with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) as the latter had never showed its seriousness on the national issues.

He said PTI leader Asad Qaiser himself contacted the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) representatives claiming to have the mandate of his party leadership for talks. However, his claim was rejected by the PTI chairman, who nominated other party representatives for the task. It showed the party’s non-seriousness towards the talks.

The minister claimed that some 85 cases of PTI leaders were heard by a “specific bench of the apex court and the decisions of 83 were given in their favour”. The two pending cases pertained to the record corruption in the Peshawar’s Bus Rapid Transport project and the election results of the former National Assembly deputy speaker Qasim Suri, he added.

Expressing his grief over the loss of lives in the recent CTD Kabal incident, he said the investigations into the matter were underway and it would be premature to comment over it before the completion of the inquiry report.

He said the ISPR director general, in his last press briefing, had once again clarified that the Pakistan Army took action on the directions of the Federal Government.
Kundi said the recent wave of terrorism in the country was the result of the ‘wrong policies’ of the previous PTI government. The terrorists were allowed to resettle in different areas of the country and those responsible for it must be held accountable, he added. He said Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari would visit India to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s (SCO) meeting, where he would hold meetings with some dignitaries on the sidelines. However, he had no schedule to meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He said the PPP believed that the general elections of the National Assembly and all the provincial assemblies should be held simultaneously. In case the elections were held in only Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, then it would affect the results of National Assembly and other two assemblies later, he added.

Referring to the claim of Imran Khan that he had dissolved the assemblies of Punjab and KP on the advice of the former army chief, he said, “some general were behind the formation of his party and then its government”. He said the PTI chief was used to say that whoever left his party would not be able to go in public, but ironically he himself was going outside by “covering his face with a box”. (APP)