F.P. Report
ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi has offered to host talks among all the stakeholders as he emphasized that lower political temperature in the country is need of the hour, on Thursday.
In an interview with BBC, President Alvi said “Political parties must rise above their differences in order to take the country forward.”
The president declared that economic situation could worsen further if the dialogue process was not set into motion.
“The PDM appears to be not serious in talks,” he said and added “This is election year and it is up to political parties to decide whether to hold the elections early or delay them. Only through talks the parties can advance or put off the polls for a few months.”
Responding to a question about corruption allegations against former prime minister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan and his wife, President Alvi said “The investigation into corruption allegations anyone should be non-political.”
Alvi emphasized the need for bringing the political temperature down to take the economy towards improvement. He stressed the need for development of consensus on some matters for stability in the country. He said it is responsibility of all the stakeholders to steer the country out of dire straits.
Responding to a question, Dr. Arif Alvi said the government is working to pull the country out of economic crisis. He was confident that the next rounds of negotiations with the IMF will bear positive results.
President Alvi urged negotiations among “all stakeholders”, including the ruling coalition government and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). He said differences were part of democracy, however, it was crucial for all to make united efforts to save the country from economic collapse. “I am not insisting about [holding talks with] PTI chief Imran Khan, but at least the political parties should hold discussions, and after that, the leaders can also meet,” he said.
He mentioned that in an earlier consultation, Imran Khan had expressed satisfaction over the nomination of General Asim Munir as army chief. He, however, said he was not ‘brokering any dialogue’ between Imran Khan and the current army leadership.
The president said that he had been personally making efforts to reduce tension among stakeholders and termed social media “a major reason” behind the differences between Imran Khan and former army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa. He said undue importance paid to social media resulted in misunderstandings and pointed out that “decision-making elements” in the country failed to effectively handle social media.
President Alvi said “I have been trying to bring people together to help them end their mistrust, and I will continue to do so. It is my constitutional responsibility to keep the federation united.”
