Prime Minister’s Special Assistance on Strategic Planning and Spokesperson Fahad Hussain said on Thursday that PTI Chairman Imran Khan had misused the tragic killing of senior journalist Arshad Sharif, adding that Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) DG Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum was forced to hold a press conference.

“I have never seen DG ISI on the media. However, considering the circumstances, this appearance is not surprising,” Hussain said speaking on Aaj News programme Faisla Aap Ka with host Asma Shirazi.

He said that since the last few months the country’s politics were weaponized through a narrative which was based on lies.

Earlier in the day, DG ISPR, Lt. General Babar Iftikhar and DG ISI, held a press conference and brushed aside fake and orchestrated narrative on Arshad Sharif’s killing.

Lt Gen Babar clarified that today’s presser was to inform the media about facts related to killing of senior journalist Arshad Sharif.

Arshad Sharif, who moved out of Pakistan in August after a sedition case was filed against him, was shot dead by Kenyan police some kilometers away from the capital city on Sunday night.

Fahad Hussain lamented the PTI chief for using the senior journalist’s killing for political gains and said his false narrative regarding the cipher was also a ‘conspiracy’.

He said that Imran Khan could not topple the government by staging a 126-days sit-in. “Today’s press conference has made it clear that the narrative they are creating is not reality but a story,” he added.

He said that the interior minister had made it clear that no compromise would be made over the law and order situation if the PTI long marchers would try to create chaos.

The SAPM said that the military leadership had made it crystal clear in the NSC meeting that there was zero evidence of a foreign conspiracy in the cipher.

He said that inciting anti-army hatred in the minds of PTI workers and supporters was very wrong. “Lies should be called lies. It’s not a narrative and if the lies are not called out the system ultimately weakens,” he added.

In response to a question regarding the negotiations between the political parties, he said that no one has backed away from the negotiation process.

The SAPM said that negotiations should be held and that they could be held at any time. “Negotiations on early elections are not possible because the government will decide the date for the next election,” he said. However, he added, that negotiations regarding PTI’s return to assemblies or reforms could be held with Imran Khan.