Qureshi said his party was ready to talk to evolve a consensus on election date but he alleged government neither wanted elections nor a dialogue with opposition.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Vice-Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi. Twitter

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Vice-Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi said Wednesday that his party was ready to talk to evolve a consensus on the election date but he alleged the government neither wanted elections nor a dialogue with the opposition.

In a statement issued here by the PTI Central Media Department, Qureshi said that in the best interests of the country and masses, they were willing to sit down for talks to develop a political consensus within the ambit of the Constitution.

However, he charged that clearly, this government was not sincere, as it neither wanted to hold polls nor dialogue with the opposition to find out a solution to get the country out of the seething crisis. “PTI will continue to follow the Constitution and the Supreme Court’s judgment on holding of elections,” he maintained.

Qureshi contended that the government was even in no mood to hold talks with the PTI, as they were hell-bent on violating the Constitution.

The PTI leader pointed out that Ayaz Sadiq and Saad Rafique were nominated by the government to hold talks with the PTI but now they were saying that it was not the team tasked to hold talks.

He continued that they (rulers) wanted to use the parliament as a bulwark and shield, adding the ruling parties only came to the court when there was a political deadlock.

Separately, PTI’s Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry said that Shehbaz Sharif’s statement cleared the little doubt, if any, that the imported government was in no mood to hold talks with the opposition or conduct elections in the constitutionally mandated timeframe.

Fawad said that Shehbaz Sharif was saying that elections should be held in October whereas the Constitution mandated that polls were to be held within 90 days of the dissolution of assemblies.

He contended that the cabinet should send its decision to the parliament and change the Constitution with a two-thirds majority or polls should be held in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) as per the order of the apex court. Fawad reminded the rulers that the Constitution cannot be suspended only by issuing statements and passing resolutions, adding that the attitude of disobeying the Constitution by the ruling parties was unacceptable.

After the National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf penned a letter to the CJP his ex-counterpart and PTI senior leader Asad Qaiser said the government was prepared for a confrontation with the Supreme Court.

In a video message, Asad said the government had made it clear that it did not want to talk to the PTI. He noted that Thursday (today) was an important day, as a big decision was going to determine the country’s destiny.

He said they had learned that a conspiracy was being hatched to remove the chief justice prematurely. “I appeal to the people that if there is any conspiracy against the chief justice, then the entire nation should come out and stand with the chief justice,” said the ex-National Assembly speaker.