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    <title>Aaj TV English News - Pakistan</title>
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    <pubDate>Fri, 24 Apr 2026 15:33:03 +0500</pubDate>
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      <title>Not in favour of contesting elections in current political environment: ex-PM Abbasi</title>
      <link>https://english.aaj.tv/news/30339675/not-in-favour-of-contesting-elections-in-current-political-environment-ex-pm-abbasi</link>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has said that he was not in favour of contesting elections amid the current political environment of Pakistan.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;“No political party is talking about the country. They are all trying to just grab power,” he told Asma Shirazi during an exclusive interview on Faisla Aap Ka on Tuesday.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;“The current political environment shows that no single party will be able to secure a majority. You will need coalition and parties are trying to form a coalition before elections,” Abbasi said&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The continuous crackdown against PTI will make the election controversial, he added&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Responding to a question regarding his absence from Nawaz Sharif’s homecoming rally, he said that he was not a person who recorded his attendance. “I am there whenever there is a difficult time.”&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;He reiterated that he did not join any other party and was always available whenever Sharif called him for a meeting. “I am not disgruntled or demand anything from the PML-N.”&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;For Abbasi, there was no other option for all parties than to sit together and hold dialogue to steer the country out of its problems.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;He expressed fear that the country’s hardships would increase further if free and fair elections were not held.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;“Everyone should contest elections, but first you need to give a roadmap of the measures after winning elections and how the winning party would take others onboard,” Abbasi said.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;On the Faizabad sit-in case, he said that cases do not resolve issues.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;“People do not trust the Supreme Court. They are part of the issue and they have to improve their stature,” he added.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Without mentioning the former PDM government, Abbasi said that the injustices done to Sharif were not overturned in the last 16 months which should have been done.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Comparing Pakistan with other countries, he said, “Other countries solve their problems and move forward. We could not even decide how we have to run the country.”&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Responding to former Pemra chairman Absar Alam’s statement, he denied shutting down any channel.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;“The minister of information takes such action. But I take responsibility for it and accept my mistake since I was the prime minister at the time,” he said.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;He refuted the reports of Sharif making a deal for his return to the country.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;“Sharif has returned to Pakistan on his own free will. I have always said that he would come to the country when his doctors allow him or he is in a mood to return,” Abbasi added.&lt;/p&gt;
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      <content:encoded xmlns="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"><![CDATA[<p><strong>Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has said that he was not in favour of contesting elections amid the current political environment of Pakistan.</strong></p>
<p>“No political party is talking about the country. They are all trying to just grab power,” he told Asma Shirazi during an exclusive interview on Faisla Aap Ka on Tuesday.</p>
<p>“The current political environment shows that no single party will be able to secure a majority. You will need coalition and parties are trying to form a coalition before elections,” Abbasi said</p>
<p>The continuous crackdown against PTI will make the election controversial, he added</p>
<p>Responding to a question regarding his absence from Nawaz Sharif’s homecoming rally, he said that he was not a person who recorded his attendance. “I am there whenever there is a difficult time.”</p>
<p>He reiterated that he did not join any other party and was always available whenever Sharif called him for a meeting. “I am not disgruntled or demand anything from the PML-N.”</p>
<p>For Abbasi, there was no other option for all parties than to sit together and hold dialogue to steer the country out of its problems.</p>
<p>He expressed fear that the country’s hardships would increase further if free and fair elections were not held.</p>
<p>“Everyone should contest elections, but first you need to give a roadmap of the measures after winning elections and how the winning party would take others onboard,” Abbasi said.</p>
<p>On the Faizabad sit-in case, he said that cases do not resolve issues.</p>
<p>“People do not trust the Supreme Court. They are part of the issue and they have to improve their stature,” he added.</p>
<p>Without mentioning the former PDM government, Abbasi said that the injustices done to Sharif were not overturned in the last 16 months which should have been done.</p>
<p>Comparing Pakistan with other countries, he said, “Other countries solve their problems and move forward. We could not even decide how we have to run the country.”</p>
<p>Responding to former Pemra chairman Absar Alam’s statement, he denied shutting down any channel.</p>
<p>“The minister of information takes such action. But I take responsibility for it and accept my mistake since I was the prime minister at the time,” he said.</p>
<p>He refuted the reports of Sharif making a deal for his return to the country.</p>
<p>“Sharif has returned to Pakistan on his own free will. I have always said that he would come to the country when his doctors allow him or he is in a mood to return,” Abbasi added.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
      <category>Pakistan</category>
      <guid>https://english.aaj.tv/news/30339675</guid>
      <pubDate>Tue, 07 Nov 2023 22:34:58 +0500</pubDate>
      <author>none@none.com (Web Desk)</author>
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        <media:title>Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi during his appearance on Faisla Aap Ka - Screengrab via YouTube/Aaj News
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        <media:title>Exclusive interview of Shahid Khaqan - Is he and PML-N parting ways?| Faisla Aap Ka | Aaj News
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