With the PTI having called off dialogue with the government to defuse political tensions, the fourth round of talks is set to begin shortly today (on Tuesday).
Talks between the government and the PTI commenced in the last week of December to bring down political temperatures, but despite weeks of negotiations, the dialogue process stalled on major issues — the formation of two judicial commissions and the release of PTI prisoners.
After the PTI last week called off talks with the government, citing a delay in the latter’s response to its demands presented in the third meeting, the government committee’s spokesperson, Senator Irfan Siddiqui, yesterday indicated ending the dialogue if the opposition skipped today’s moot.
The PTI has made its participation in today’s meeting conditional to the formation of judicial commissions to probe the May 9 and November 26 incidents.
A report in today’s The News quoted members of the government’s negotiating team as saying they have something to offer the PTI if they attend the talks. PML-N Rana Sanaullah said: “Neither will we reject their demands outright nor will we accept them entirely. We will offer them some room to proceed further.”
The meeting summoned by National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq is expected to be held in the Parliament House at 11:45am.
According to Siddiqui, the response to the PTI’s charter of demands would not be made public in case the opposition party skipped the meeting. The government committee, however, will attend the in-camera session in either case.
The PML-N leader also called on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday to apprise him about the dialogue with the PTI.
The senator urged the PTI to attend the meeting so that progress could be made on its demands for the formation of judicial commissions and the release of political prisoners.
He recalled that an agreement had been reached between the PTI and the government in which the government was given seven working days to share its response to the PTI demands with the NA speaker. “We have prepared our replies but will not make them public in case the PTI does not attend the meeting,” he added.
On the other hand, the PTI is not going to attend the meeting being held today, according to Omar Ayub, the opposition leader in the National Assembly.
However, the party later showed a little flexibility in its stance and said the opposition committee could attend the meeting if the government arranged a meeting of its members with ex-premier Imran Khan before January 28. However, any meeting did not materialise.
PM Shehbaz calls for ‘joint strategy’ with opposition for national issues
In a press release issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) after a meeting between the premier and Senator Siddiqui, PM Shehbaz expressed the desire that the talks between the government and the PTI should continue.
“These contacts help in preparing a joint strategy to resolve issues facing the country and nation,” he added. He said avoiding negotiations was an undemocratic attitude that created tensions and damaged the atmosphere of national solidarity.
The prime minister said Pakistan did not need agitation, tussles, and confrontation but harmony and understanding so that a joint strategy could be adopted for building the economy and eradicating terrorism.
