Senior Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Khurshid Shah has stated that if Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan is willing to engage in dialogue, the party led by Bilawal Bhutto will fulfill its responsibility.
“There are rumors that the PTI founder is prepared to speak. It is a good sign if [Imran] Khan is willing to speak. Speaking to the media in Quetta, Shah stated, “President Asif Ali Zardari has always attempted to solve the problems through negotiations [and] the PPP would play its role if needed [in this regard].”
The politician’s comments coincide with the party created by Khan repeatedly adopting a hard-line position against the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), which is backed by the PPP, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), and other parties.
Since his removal in 2022 through a vote of no confidence, the party created by Khan has persisted in its attack on the coalition of the PPP, PML-N. Following the polls on February 8, which showed the two parties reuniting and negotiating a power-sharing arrangement to form a government in the Center, the political polarization became even more intense.
The party has previously declined talks with the “Form-47 government”—a reference to alleged manipulation of election results—and instead stated its willingness to engage with the military establishment in response to calls for reconciliation from various societal groups and political parties amid increased political instability.
