Tag: political consensus

  • Khan agrees to sit with rivals for ‘greater national consensus’

    Khan agrees to sit with rivals for ‘greater national consensus’

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has agreed to sit with rival political parties for “greater national consensus” on elections.

    To try and defuse political tensions in the country, a delegation of civil society members called on the former prime minister on Tuesday evening. Calling themselves “mediators”, the group convinced Khan to agree to talks.

    Speaking about the matter, PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry said, “The civil society has spoken to Imran Khan and he has agreed to be part of the multi-party conference (MPC) to develop a consensus on the elections date and the process that leads to polls.”

    Speaking with Dawn, an individual who was part of the meeting said, “The civil society initiative and its acceptance by Imran Khan has come after some of the [party] leaders realised that the current confrontational strategy had the former ruling party in a bind.”

     “We are ready to talk to everyone for elections. We are peaceful people, with only one demand: hold elections,” said Pervaiz Khattak, former defence minister.

    The Pakistan Bar Council has agreed to host the MPC if “major political parties respond to this call”.

  • ‘Rethink and reimagine Pakistan’: Politicians, bureaucrats call for political consensus

    Former Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar has announced that he along with a group of politicians and bureaucrats, will be organising a series of seminars across Pakistan aimed at bringing about a “political consensus for restructuring the governance structures of Pakistan”.

    Former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, former Finance Minister Miftah Ismail, Fawad Hasan Fawad, Asad Ali Shah, Haji Lashkari Raisini, Mir Humayun Kurd, Khawaja Mohammad Hoti, along with others, will be part of this effort to create political consensus.

    Khokhar tweeted, “In a nonpartisan effort, I have been talking to friends & colleagues about the current economic, political and social crisis of Pakistan which are now striking at the core foundations of the state and the society.”

    “At the same time individual and collective rights are under severe stress causing a widespread dissatisfaction of people across the regional and ethnic divides in Pakistan. These trying times require us to “rethink” or “reimagine” Pakistan.”

    Talking to The News, Khokar said, “From political uncertainty to economic meltdown to polarisation in society that has reached dangerous levels of intolerance, Pakistan is not facing just one crisis but multiple crises at the same time. Today we are at a juncture where we are actually at a ‘naazuk morr’ — a phrase that we always hear but only when powerful quarters don’t want something to be talked about”.

    Ismail too took to Twitter and said, ” I and many other colleagues are trying to bring about a national consensus on major issues. Thus we are starting with holding seminars across Pakistan.”