Mohsin Naqvi accuses Sohail Afridi of sabotaging the talks

After the impasse in the ongoing talks between the government and the opposition, Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has revealed the details of the last phase of the talks and said that both sides had largely come close to an agreement; however, the matter could not move forward due to the stance of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government.

During a press conference in Lahore, Mohsin Naqvi said that the opposition delegation adopted a serious attitude in the talks. According to him, as a result of the talks, acceptable points were agreed upon by both sides, and a draft of the agreement was also ready.

The Interior Minister said that he had also taken the draft to the President. He said that he had requested the president to include the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government in the negotiation process so that the provincial government’s concerns could be directly expressed.

According to Mohsin Naqvi, the draft agreement was changed four times, and about 99 percent of the points had been agreed upon. However, he claims that after showing the draft to the president, another change was made, which affected the negotiation process.

The Interior Minister also criticized Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi. He said that if the final decisions were to be taken by the Chief Minister, he should have participated in the negotiations himself. According to Mohsin Naqvi, he had known in advance that the provincial government would veto the agreement, and then the negotiation process would not have started.

On the issue of the long march, the Interior Minister said that the federal government had not demanded the postponement of the march. According to him, the PPP had definitely requested this regard. Mohsin Naqvi clarified that an attack on Islamabad would not be allowed and action would be taken against those participating in the sit-in as per the law.

Meanwhile, Mohsin Naqvi met Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi in Peshawar. The meeting discussed the political situation of the province, law and order, and measures against terrorism. According to the statement, the two leaders agreed to play their constitutional role to keep the province safe from terrorism.

The statement further said that if the President and the Prime Minister consider Governor’s Rule or emergency necessary, the Governor House will play its constitutional role. The use of government resources for the long march has also been declared contrary to court decisions.

Mohsin Naqvi said that the president and the prime minister are being continuously informed about the current situation. According to him, the future decision will be made in consultation with the top leadership. Along with the impasse in the talks, the security situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa also remains a major challenge for the government.