PPP ready to talk to militants

LAHORE, Jan 6: Federal Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira has said the PPP is ready for talks with everyone, including militants. “The PPP is ready for dialogue with anyone, even the Taliban,” he remarked while answering a question here. The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan has offered the government ‘conditional talks’ for peace. He said the nation was worried about the announcement made by Dr Tahirul Qadri about his planned march on Islamabad on Jan 14. “Dr Qadri should better approach the Election Commission of Pakistan if he has any objections to the electoral process,” he said. Mr Qadri should first decide about taking part in the election and then get his party registered with the ECP in line with the constitutional process, he added. Mr Kaira said the caretaker set-up would be formed after consultation with all stakeholders. He said anything against the Constitution was unacceptable and all suggestions within the domain of the Constitution would be welcomed. He said the PPP was pursuing the reconciliation policy because it believed in the unity of people and not in their division. The PPP had kept all its coalition partners on board while taking decisions. To a question about differences among the coalition partners, especially with the PML-Q, he said differences remained in alliances but it did not mean that the coalition was not intact. He said the tenure of the government would end on March 16 and the elections would be held within the next two months. The minister cut a cake to mark the 85th birth anniversary of PPP founder Z.A. Bhutto at the Radio Pakistan building.]]>