Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has said that he was not in favour of contesting elections amid the current political environment of Pakistan.

“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.

“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

The continuous crackdown against PTI will make the election controversial, he added

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.”

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.”

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.

He expressed fear that the country’s hardships would increase further if free and fair elections were not held.

“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.

On the Faizabad sit-in case, he said that cases do not resolve issues.

“People do not trust the Supreme Court. They are part of the issue and they have to improve their stature,” he added.

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.

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.”

Responding to former Pemra chairman Absar Alam’s statement, he denied shutting down any channel.

“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.

He refuted the reports of Sharif making a deal for his return to the country.

“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.