Islamabad, Oct 6 (IANS) Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Gohar Ali Khan on Tuesday said that Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s offer for talks was “merely symbolic” and no positive step has been taken beyond extending the invitation, local media reported.
Speaking to reporters in Rawalpindi, Gohar Ali Khan said PTI leaders had not been allowed to meet party founder Imran Khan for a year, and the last meeting took place in October last year, Pakistan’s leading news network Geo News reported.
Gohar Ali Khan’s statement came hours after Shehbaz Sharif offered to hold talks with PTI, provided the party ends its ongoing long march towards Islamabad.
While speaking at an event in Islamabad, Sharif said that the politics of sit-ins and long marches would impact Pakistan’s economy. “I urge you to come to your senses, end the long march and sit-in, and then we will sit with you,” he said.
On Monday, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi urged PTI workers to join the long march as the convoy reached Kohat. While addressing the participants during the long march in Kohat, he thanked the people of the city for their “magnificent welcome” and said that the long march would resume its journey towards Peshawar from University Chowk on Tuesday, ‘The Express Tribune’ reported.
Afridi said, “I am a soldier of Imran Khan. Even if the whole world comes together, it cannot put a price on me.” He said that they have to convey the message that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa belongs to Imran Khan.
Sohail Afridi began the march from Lakki Marwat on Sunday, after the talks between PTI and the federal government failed to resolve a dispute over the party’s planned protest, the newspaper reported.
The talks chaired by National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq ended on Saturday without yielding any positive outcome. The federal government wanted the PTI to cancel its march while the opposition demanded assurances that they would be allowed to meet Imran Khan. Subsequently, PTI leaders announced that the march would proceed as planned.
–IANS
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