ISLAMABAD, Jan 12 (FD):President Arif Alvi has offered to mediate between the Shehbaz Sharif-led government and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to lower the rising political temperature in the country.
Arif Alivi, a close aide of PTI Chairman Imran Khan, in an interview with BBC Urdu on Thursday, said that it is now inevitable to cool down the simmering tension and advised the political leadership to hold talks.
“It is my offer to them [political parties] to sit together and then senior leadership can hold talks,” said Dr Alvi.
The president, who had held multiple rounds of talks with federal ministers in the past, alleged that the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government is using delaying tactics with regards to PTI, adding that “there’s no communication between the two parties in the past one month”.
Dr Alvi added that the government has indicated its willingness to hold talks with the PTI but no results were coming out of it.
Talking about economy, the president said that there was a chance of improvement and dismissed reports of Pakistan defaulting on its loans.
“I am telling everyone not go in that direction rather, come together and work,” he said. “It would have been better if they listened to me. I am not philosopher but, if you look at surveys of that time, it shows that there should have been a dialogue.”
The president lamented that he himself did not understand who was more “reluctant”.
Dr Alvi said that it is an election year and emphasised that dialogue should be held before the polls. He added that matters related to elections should be sorted so there can be focus on the economy and welfare projects.
Ties between Gen (retd) Bajwa and Imran Khan
Responding to a question regarding ties between deposed prime minister Imran Khan and former army chief General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa, President Alvi said that he was not privy to any specific information on the matter.
All this was available in press, he said. Some misunderstandings were also coming out in public.
“I have tried to end such misunderstandings,” Alvi stressed. “Being the president, it is my responsibility to keep this federation together. Cooperation is better than discords for Pakistan and such is also my advice.”
The president blamed President social media for the differences between the PTI chief and the Gen (retd) Bajwa,
“If social media is given more importance over such issues, then it leads to problems,” said Dr Alvi.
When pressed if the cause of “friction” between former premier and ex-army chief was the appointment of then director-general (DG) of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), President Alvi said that he would not talk about any specific person or incident.
“Who was not showing flexibility?” the premier asked. “I was asking them to set-aside differences and ignore social media.”
“People can’t forgive when I ask them to,” he said.
Responding to a question regarding former army chief’s extension in service, President Alvi said he was not aware of such offers.
“This is what I am saying. Remove such misunderstandings by having a dialogue together,” he stressed. “Be it any party, opposition, government or the establishment, I am ready to bring people together.”
