News
Peace talks : Kaira laments inclusion of govt officials in committee
LAHORE: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Punjab Secretary General Tanvir Ashraf Kaira in a statement issued here on Wednesday has lamented the inclusion of government functionaries in the to-be-held peace talks between the government and the Taliban.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk
He said that it speaks volumes of the utter confusion the leadership is embroiled in and which is ironically piling it up with every passing day.
“The government is clueless and its dithering is frustrating,” he said. He said that the civil servants’ taking part in the negotiations would reflect poorly on the civilian leadership that instead should focus on taking charge of the dialogue process and provide the type of leadership to the nation, which was the dire need of the hour.
He said its indecisiveness was costing dearly to the state, security institutions and the people who were anxiously hoping for peace, sooner than later. He added that the civil servants were meant to implement the decisions taken by the civilian leadership. It was therefore inappropriate idea to engage them in important national issues like extremism and terrorism because it would undermine civilian turf at the end of the day.
He endorsed the earlier statement of the interior minister in which he categorically said that the army was not being involved in the negotiations with the Taliban.
It was indeed the vindication of the PPP position taken right from the beginning because of the apprehension of negative fall out on the political process in the country. He reiterated that the support of the PPP to the government to bring peace in the country was not unqualified.
The negotiations should not be open- ended because in that case it will serve the tactical interests of our adversaries at the expense of the state, he concluded.