Nawaz Sharif says Taliban talks offer to be taken seriously

PML-N Chief Nawaz Sharif, Monday said Taliban’s offer for peace talks should be taken seriously as every issue cannot be solved through use of power and bullet.

Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) party is set to form government following victory in the May 11 general elections.

He spoke to the members-elect of the National Assembly in Lahore and briefly highlighted plans of his incoming government and difficulties he is facing.

Nawaz Sharif said holding negotiations is the only way to effectively solve problems.

“We have lost several lives, our economy is deteriorating… If Taliban offers us an option to have dialogue, we should take it seriously. Why can’t we talk to the Taliban to make our country peaceful?”

The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) had offered ‘conditional dialogue’ to the previous ruling coalition in February but withdrew it after they did not receive a ‘positive’ response.

The outlawed group said last week that they do not rule out a ‘ceasefire’ if the new government ‘shows seriousness’ to their dialogue offer.

TTP spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said if the incoming government takes the Taliban talks offer seriously, his group will also come up with a positive response.

When Taliban offered dialogue they had proposed the name of Nawaz Sharif and two other Pakistani leaders as guarantors for the success of the talks. However, none of the leaders agreed to be the guarantor.

About his coming Nawaz Sharif said his party has already started work to resolve the problems faced by the people.

He said that it will take months not years to complete the work, hoping that the people will feel positive change in the first hundred days of his government.

Nawaz Sharif said thirty percent expenditure of the government will be curtailed. He said it will be effort of his government to end load-shedding at minimum possible time.

“All political parties need to work on one common agenda for the betterment of the country and this is what I reiterated when I went to Shaukat Khanum Hospital (to visit Imran Khan),” he added.

PML-N won the highest number of National Assembly seats in the general elections that took place in the country on May 11, establishing a simple majority in the centre. Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) who won in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in the elections has formed its own government in the province.

Nawaz Sharif said his party has already started work to resolve the problems faced by the people. He said that it will take months not years to complete the work. He hoped that the people will feel positive change in the first hundred days of his government.

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Posted by Tahir Khan on May 20 2013. Filed under Latest News, National, Pakistan, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.