Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday renewed his offer of dialogue with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), saying the government was prepared to resume negotiations if the opposition party called off its long march and sit-ins.
“End your long march. If you end it, then we will certainly sit with you and talk,” Shehbaz said while addressing the groundbreaking ceremony for the Kashmir Chowk Underpass in Islamabad.
His remarks came as PTI’s phased long march, led by Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, reached Kohat. The party launched the mobilisation on Sunday as part of its campaign for the release of founder Imran Khan and over other political and constitutional demands.
Referring to the recently failed negotiations, Shehbaz said the government had entered talks following consultations, with representatives from both sides meeting for two days in National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq’s chamber.
“There was a lot of discussion, and there was every hope that, God willing, these talks would reach their desired conclusion,” he said. “But unfortunately, that did not happen.”
The prime minister accused PTI of seeking last-minute changes to what had been negotiated and claimed the party did not ultimately want the talks to succeed. PTI leaders have offered a different account, saying negotiations broke down over unresolved demands including access to Imran Khan, meetings with his family and personal physician, and consultation over security policy in K-P.
Shehbaz also warned that prolonged protests and sit-ins could hurt economic activity, arguing that disruptions preventing workers and professionals from reaching workplaces would ultimately damage the country.
He said the government had spent the past year and a half working towards economic stability and claimed improvements were now visible in areas including exports, IT exports, remittances and domestic production.
“Do you want to damage this? Do you want to harm Pakistan’s progress?” he asked.
The prime minister said the government would protect public life and property and that “the law will take its course”, while reiterating that dialogue remained possible if PTI ended its protest campaign.