KARACHI (INP): Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Rehman Malik has said that the responsibility to resolve the current political deadlock lies with the government.

“The government should have handled the long march in such a way that it didn’t come to this point,” the former minister said, hinting that the government should have spoken with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) or the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT), while their leaders were still in Lahore.

He urged both parties to resolve the current crisis through talks. Malik said it was Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s responsibility to ensure the crisis is resolved. Otherwise, he added, the situation would only get worse.

Referring to the Inter-Services Public Relations’ statement urging all stakeholders to resolve the issue through meaningful dialogue, Malik said that PTI chairman Imran Khan, PAT chief Dr Tahirul Qadri and Prime Minister Nawaz have a clear indication from the army and should heed to it.

“The PPP’s stance is neutral,” the former interior minister said, adding that former president Asif Ali Zardari would play a role if needed.

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari has given a task to the opposition leader in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah to help defuse political deadlock.

The meeting of the PPP central executive committee tool place here with the former president Zardari in the chair.

The meeting also decided to engage former Punjab governor Makhdoom Ahmed Mehmood in the dialogue process to get the prevailing political stalemate settled.

The PPP leaders agreed that they would back the government in both the houses of the parliament and they would not support any undemocratic move against the government.

The PPP co-chairman also summoned a meeting of the party’s Punjab chapter Saturdy.