President of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Shehbaz Sharif believes that dialogue with the outlawed Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) is the only way forward to come out of the current security crisis.
Speaking to the media outside a court in Lahore on Saturday, Sharif said, “In reply to the ongoing TLP protests, holding talks with them is the best option” for the government.
“So many lives have been lost. May Allah keep Pakistan safe and sound,” the senior PML-N leader continued.
The outlawed religious party is protesting over the detention of its leader Saad Rizvi, arrested in April. The group is also demanding the expulsion of the French ambassador.
On Friday, Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid had confirmed that the option to hold negotiations with the outlawed TLP was still on the table, however, no one would be allowed to challenge the writ of the state.
Addressing media in Islamabad following the National Security Committee meeting (NSC) meeting, Rashid revealed that police would work under Rangers as per Article-147 in Punjab.
He said that his ministry took the decision after four policemen were martyred in clashes with TLP workers, while more than 80 were injured, eight of them critically.
“The writ of the state would be established in any case, but we did not close negotiations door with the TLP yet,” he had said.
Later, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry, while warning the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), had said that Pakistan was not a “monarchy” and the law would prevail in the country.
“We are not in a monarchy. It’s a government by the law, and the law has to prevail,” he had said in a news conference. The minister claimed that the outlawed organisation itself was clueless about what they wanted from the government.
“The TLP’s demand of releasing their chief Saad Rizvi could not be dealt with as the matter was in the courts,” Chaudhry had added.