Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday extended an olive branch to his predecessor and political rival Imran Khan, offering to hold talks with him if was facing “troubles” in jail.
Khan, the founder of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, has been in jail since August last year after being convicted in some of the nearly 200 cases slapped on the 71-year-old cricketer-turned-politician since his ouster from power in April 2022.
“If their [PTI] founder is facing troubles [in jail], then I reiterate: come, let’s sit down and talk,” Sharif said while addressing the National Assembly. “Let us sit together to take the country ahead. Let us talk for the betterment of the country. There is no other way forward,” he said.
The Nawaz Sharif-led Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) have been at loggerheads for years, particularly after the February 8 elections which Khan’s party claims it had won.
Commenting on the elections, Sharif said: “We joined parliament despite the [rigged] polls. The sort of slogans that were raised during my first speech will always be remembered as a dark chapter in the history books.”
“If someone is facing any injustice, then I believe that the scales of justice should be in favour of those [being victimised], there is no difference over it — whether it be any politician or anyone from any walk of life,” Geo News quoted Sharif as saying.
