Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Shehryar Afridi said on Friday talks would be held only with the army chief and the intelligence chief and it would happen soon.
Speaking on live show on a private news channel, Afridi criticized the government led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and said that the rulers were dependent on others and were being controlled by a remote control. He said that people rejected the incumbent rulers, but they came into power through Form-47. He said that rejected people could not hold talks with the PTI.
Afridi, who was the narcotics minister in Imran Khan’s cabinet, said that Pakistan and Imran Khan were part and parcel of each other. He said the incumbent rulers failed despite the worst vote rigging in the general elections and then the by-elections. If the rulers have the moral courage, he said, they should admit that people haven’t voted for them and quit.
The PTI leader said that jailed former prime minister Imran Khan did not want to strike a deal with anyone; he wants a dialogue only for the betterment of Pakistan. He said the PTI would talk to the army chief and the director general of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). He said the incumbent rulers are backed by the establishment.
Afridi said that Imran Khan wanted engagement from day one, but he was not engaged. Should anyone have engaged him, he said, Khan would have responded and everybody would have known this. He said he owns this country, the army and all other institutions. He said that talks would be held with the army and they would be held soon.
