PM Shehbaz calls on PTI to end protests and return to dialogue

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has urged the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leadership to abandon plans for sit-ins and long marches and resolve political issues through dialogue. 

Addressing the ceremony of Kashmir Chowk expansion in Islamabad, Shehabz Sharif said the government had made serious and sustained efforts to engage with the PTI leadership. He said a joint committee had held two days of talks with the opposition in the Speaker’s Chamber in the hope of reaching a positive outcome.



“Unfortunately, our efforts to make the negotiations successful could not bear fruit,” PM Shehabz Sharif said.

He maintained that the government had wanted to hold meaningful talks with the PTI and persuade its leadership to resolve political differences through negotiations rather than street protests.

Prime Minister Shehbaz warned that renewed sit-ins and long marches could negatively affect the country’s economy, particularly exports, manufacturing and imports.

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He said Pakistan’s economy had been brought back on track through two and a half years of hard work and teamwork, adding that improvements had been recorded in IT, remittances and production in September.

“Any action that harms the economy ultimately causes damage to the country,” he said, while also expressing concern over the potential risks to the lives and property of citizens.

The prime minister said the government would not allow sit-ins and long marches, adding that the law would take its course.

At the same time, he extended an offer for dialogue, urging the PTI to call off its planned protests and sit down with the government to resolve outstanding issues through talks.