Sanaullah | Pakistan

With the political impasse continuing among the country’s main stakeholders, Prime Minister’s Adviser on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah said on Friday that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had not imposed any “minus Imran” condition on political engagement. A day earlier, the premier’s adviser had proposed “confidence-building measures” between the leadership of the PML-N, the PTI, and the PPP could bring down political temperatures. “Prime Minister Shehbaz has not set any condition of minus Imran Khan [from politics]. We neither seek to minus anyone nor consider it politically viable. Similar efforts were made to sideline us in the past,” Sanaullah said while speaking on Geo News programme Naya Pakistan. As the leader of the House, PM Shehbaz has offered negotiations to the opposition, saying they [PTI] should sit with him as dialogue is key to parliamentary democracy, Sanaullah added. Maintaining that the opposition PTI had to take a step forward, the senior PML-N leader said that dialogue on behalf of the p...

Prime Minister’s Adviser on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah on Thursday said that “confidence-building measures” between the five major players in the country would improve the political situation. The PTI earlier said that it will not engage in negotiations with the federal government. Party Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram said the stance was taken following the instructions of party founder Imran Khan. “Two of them are my leaders, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Nawaz Sharif. The third is President Asif Ali Zardari, the fourth is [incarcerated PTI leader] Imran Khan, and everyone knows who the fifth is,” Sanaullah said while speaking on Geo News Capital Talk on Thursday. He said the efforts at the level of leaders like him and PTI’s chief whip in the National Assembly, Malik Amir Dogar, would continue, but until confidence among the top leaders is established, the political situation would not see a breakthrough. Sanaullah added that confidence-building measures would be possible only when socia...

Adviser to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah on Wednesday said the PTI cannot differentiate between “anti-establishment and anti-army” politics, highlighting that PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif always engaged in the former and not the latter. Yesterday, the Punjab Assembly adopted a resolution to ban incarcerated PTI founder and former prime minister Imran Khan and his party for being “anti-state”. Last week, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry assailed Imran for creating and spreading an “anti-army” rhetoric, stating that such narratives were now out of the realm of politics and had become a “national security threat”. “People hate the establishment, but they love Pakistan and its army. The PTI’s narrative against the army and its leadership is creating political damage for them and could cause the party irreparable harm,” said Sanaullah while speaking on Geo News programme ‘Naya Pakistan’. He added that MQM founder Altaf Hussain’s hours-long ...

Adviser to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah voiced support on Friday for meetings between incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan and his family members, subject to certain conditions. Imran has been in jail since August 2023, serving a 14-year sentence on corruption charges. His family and party members have protested outside Adiala Jail in recent days, demanding a meeting but have been repeatedly denied despite orders from the courts. Imran’s sister Aleema Khan filed a contempt of court petition against the Adiala jail superintendent and others over their failure to comply with an earlier Islamabad High Court (IHC) order that reinstated a twice-a-week meeting schedule for the incarcerated former premier. Speaking on the matter in an interview on Geo News show ‘Naya Pakistan’, Sanaullah said: “There should be permission for meetings and they should definitely take place, but a 90-minute press conference cannot take place after an hour’s meeting; no law allows this.” He further said that pol...

Adviser to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah on Monday said that a 28th Constitutional Amendment, dealing with “public issues”, could be introduced if there is political consensus. Last week, President Asif Ali Zardari gave his assent to the contentious 27th Constitutional Amendment, enacting it into law. Speaking to reporters in Chiniot, the PM’s aide said that the amendment would deal with “public issues, such as local bodies, population, the National Finance Commission … health-related issues”. “There is a need to review how we can better serve the people according to the present needs of the provinces and the Centre,” Sanaullah stated. “This is being debated and if there is any consensus, then we can bring the 28th Amendment forward,” said the PML-N leader. Referring to the recent resignations by judges of the Supreme Court and LHC, the PM’s aide said that “those who stepped down did so due to their personal motives”. He maintained that the parliament has the constitutional right to p...

Adviser to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah said on Friday that the government will proceed only with those parts of the 27th Constitutional Amendment agreed upon by coalition partners, while disputed matters, including changes to the 18th Amendment and the NFC Award, will remain under discussion. Speaking on Geo News programme Naya Pakistan, Sanaullah said the amendment’s draft was expected to be presented before the cabinet today, but was delayed as the PPP’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) had not yet finalised its position. “We thought it better to wait for their opinion before moving forward. Once their input comes, we’ll finalise the draft and take it to the cabinet for approval before presenting it in the Senate,” he said. Responding to a question about PML-N’s agreement with PPP on the formation of a constitutional court, Sanaullah highlighted that the PPP has been committed to the idea since 2005, and both parties are signatories to the Charter of Democracy. “Their only demand...

Sanaullah rules out talks with banned TLP

Adviser to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah said on Sunday that the country has achieved economic revival under the leadership of PM Shehaz Sharif, assuring the provision of relief to the public in the upcoming budget. The government will present the federal budget for the fiscal year 2025-26 on June 2. PM Shehbaz has assured that providing relief to the common man in the upcoming budget was the government’s priority, and all-out resources will be utilised to reduce the financial difficulties of the poor and middle class. A delegation comprising the PML-N leader, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, and Energy Minister Awais Leghari called on Governor Sindh Kamran Tessori in Karachi today, while MQM leaders Farooq Sattar, Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Faisal Sabwari, and Nasrin Jalil were also present on the occasion. Addressing the media after the meeting, Sanaullah said that Pakistan had emerged out of an economic crisis due to the untiring efforts of the economic team comprising the financ...