Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PKMAP) chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai, whose party is allied with PTI, expressed skepticism over the talks between the government and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), questioning the value of negotiating with a government he believes lacks a legitimate mandate.
In a press interaction with Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM) Chairman Allama Raja Nasir Abbas in Islamabad on Friday, Achakzai remarked, “What is the point of negotiating with a government that does not have a legitimate mandate?”
His comments followed the second round of talks between the PTI and the government, which, according to National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, were conducted in a cordial environment.
While PKMAP’s Achakzai expressed support for the success of the negotiations, he cynically stated, “but in such cases, prayers are not accepted.”
He also criticised Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, suggesting that he had once been willing to become the prime minister under then-president Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf, but was stopped by Nawaz Sharif. Achakzai added that Nawaz Sharif himself had “backed down.”
Meanwhile, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi voiced his skepticism regarding the negotiations.
Speaking in Peshawar, Kundi stated that although negotiations were the only way out of Pakistan’s long-standing issues, he did not expect PTI to receive a deal akin to the controversial National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO).
During the meeting, PTI’s negotiation team pushed for frequent meetings with the party’s founder, Imran Khan, to finalise their “charter of demands.”
The party’s key demands include the release of political prisoners and a judicial probe into the events of May 9, 2023, and the November 26 crackdown. However, PTI has yet to submit these demands in writing to the government committee.
