ISLAMABAD: The main opposition Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) says that the time has come for the government to take the final decision about acting against the outlawed Taliban because there is no use pursuing talks with them after the recent terror attacks.
“The government should not delay its final decision as the nation wants peace and is looking towards the political leadership. Nawaz Sharif should take a final decision not as a prime minister, but as a leader,” said Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khurshid Ahmed Shah while talking to reporters in his Parliament House chamber on Tuesday.
“This is the time to take a decision. The government will have to decide which path it wants to take to make the country safe,” he added.
Mr Shah was of the opinion that the killing of 23 FC personnel and an army major by Taliban had made the entire peace process redundant and now the government should not waste time and energy in pursuing talks with the banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
“The government does not need any all-party conference or resolution to take a final decision,” he said. He advised the prime minister to take a decision after holding consultations with the heads of parties having representation in the parliament.
The PPP leader appreciated the government’s decision to suspend talks after the recent terror incidents, but urged the prime minister to tell the nation how long he would continue to stick to the decision.
Describing the brutal killing of FC men by Taliban as “a murder of Shariah and humanity”, Mr Shah said there was a general perception, especially among the youth, that Taliban were not interested in talks and they were only gaining time to get themselves reorganised.
Mr Shah said his party knew that the talks with the militants would be a futile exercise, but they supported the government to provide it an opportunity to exhaust this option as well.
“We knew that negotiations will not succeed. And when we saw the names of the members of the two committees we were sure about it,” Mr Shah added.
The PPP leader said that Mr Sharif should have no fear from the opposition because the PPP leadership had assured him that it would not allow democracy to be derailed. He said the people had forgotten even the serious problems of gas and power shortage because they wanted peace.
Mr Shah was of the view that the government should not be compared with the previous PPP government because people had not given complete mandate to it whereas the PML-N government did not require support of any other party.
Despite having the limited mandate, he said the PPP government had brought the army leadership and intelligence officials before the parliament for a briefing and launched a successful military operation in Swat.
He asked the TTP to release all civilians and security personnel who were in their custody, if it wanted to go ahead with talks.
The PPP leader also criticised a recent statement of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan about capabilities of the armed forces to combat terror and termed him an “immature” politician. He said Mr Khan’s statements had encouraged militants to step up their activities.
The PPP leader, however, stopped short of asking the government to launch a full-fledged military operation and in response to repeated questions by reporters in this regard said that that it was up to the government to take a decision.