report in the Express Tribune, Nov 14, 2020
A day after Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) vice-president Maryam Nawaz expressed openness about the idea of negotiating with the “establishment”, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has said that the issue will be decided through the forum of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) – an alliance of 11 opposition parties to oust Prime Minister Imran Khan-led government.
In an interview with the BBC Urdu, Maryam said her party could consider negotiations with the military through the platform of PDM. However, there is one condition for negotiations: the “fake government” has to be sent home, she added.
Maryam – who is on campaign trail in Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) – claimed that the “establishment” had approached some of her close associates for talks, though she hastened to add that nobody had directly contacted her.
Nawaz Sharif, the former premier who has been convicted of financial corruption and sentenced to seven years in jail, openly blames the military brass for his ignominious ouster from power.
“Pakistan Army is my institution. We will definitely talk, but within the ambit of the Constitution. Neither side will try to overstep the crease. Also, such negotiations would be held in public, not in secret,” Maryam said. “I am not against the institution, but this government will have to go home then we move forward [on negotiations].”
Addressing a press conference in Gilgit today, Bilawal said……….. “The entire world is watching these elections. We cannot afford to have a rigged election in G-B. If the people’s vote is stolen then there could be protest and violence. Administration’s job is to maintain peace. Sectarianism is being propagated in some parts of G-B in these elections.”
He hoped that on November 15 people of G-B will come out to vote for their rights and vote for the PPP. ……The right to employment is the right to have first right of employment in every project in G-B including in the projects under CPEC. The first right of employment is of the people of G-B and Balochistan in the CPEC projects. We want a prosperous G-B,” he added.
The PPP, he said, had conceived the idea of CPEC. The relation of PPP and the Chinese communist party go back three generations like “we have relations with the people of G-B”…….
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2272154/pdm-to-decide-on-dialogue-with-establishment-bilawal
