Govt, PTI to go for final round of talks today

PTI says ball is in govt’s court as party has accepted its demand of single-day polls

ISLAMABAD:

The government and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) negotiators are all set to go for another round of talks -- possibly final -- on Tuesday night to end the months-long political and legal impasse by developing a consensus on simultaneously holding general elections across the country.

The other crucial aspect of the talks is to give a constitutional cover to the past and future events as the 90-day constitutional deadline for holding elections of the Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa assemblies, which were dissolved in January by the PTI, has already lapsed.

At the moment, the talks have entered into a decisive phase as the PTI has accepted the government’s demand of holding elections of the National Assembly and provincial assemblies – Sindh and Balochistan – at the same time but demanded that the federal ruling alliance should announce the date for the dissolution of the remaining assemblies and work on giving the cover to the constitutional lapses.

“Well it depends on the government side now as we have accepted their same-day election demand,” Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry told The Express Tribune when asked how hopeful he was about the talks’ outcome, “now they have to show flexibility on dates and Constitutional amendments”.

Surprising as it may seem, the constitutional amendments could also pave the way for PTI lawmakers’ return to the National Assembly as the government would need the PTI’s support for making constitutional changes.

Also read: Govt-PTI talks on track

Roughly, 124 PTI MNAs had resigned en masse in April 2022 after the then opposition -- now in power – had ousted PTI-led government through a no-confidence motion, alleging the regime-change operation was backed by the U.S -- a stance which PTI abandoned along the way.

The PTI’s possible return to the assembly also means that it would take back the position of the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly and chairmanship of the Public Accounts Committee, which is currently being held by the PTI lawmakers who didn’t resign back in April 2022 and decided to sit on the opposition benches.

Though the negotiating teams from both the sides have shown optimism and have so far refused to let their differences come in the way of developing a consensus on general elections, there are others throwing spanners in the works since the talks began.

For instance, Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz’s (PML-N) senior leader Javed Latif objected on Monday to the ongoing negotiations, saying that talks were not possible with “terrorists” and “those who weaken institutions”. The remarks have come at a time when government and PTI leaders have sat across the table for talks after a year, rekindling the hopes for breaking the ongoing stalemate.

Recently, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif also said that he did not have high hopes for the talks between the government and PTI and the process of dialogue was just a “waste of time”.

On the other hand, the PTI leadership has shown restrain and decided to continue talks even after police raided the residence of PTI President Chaudhry Pervaiz in Lahore the other day.

Meanwhile, PTI chief Imran Khan has constantly been exerting pressure on the government by saying that the talks would only move ahead if the government announces to dissolve assembly before May 14 – a date that the Supreme Court has set for holding elections in Punjab.

The top court had fixed the date after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) postponed the polls in Punjab to October 8 due to the lack of funds and security after initially announcing to hold polls on April 30. The apex court intervened and lately proposed to the political parties to reach a consensus on holding polls together across the country or else the court would give its decision.

Apart from Imran, PTI’s Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi while responding to PML-N leaders’ remarks said that PML-N leaders were creating hindrances in the talks whereas the JUI-F and PDM chief, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, has already opposed talks with PTI.

Also read: Sanjrani tries to woo Fazl for govt-PTI talks

He said that the government’s negotiating team was given time for seeking opinion of its leadership at their request. Like Imran, Qureshi also hinted at starting a movement for protecting the constitution.

In the first two rounds of talks, the government and PTI teams have deliberated upon the current political and constitutional stalemate and tried to resolve the issues by sitting inside the Parliament than taking the matters to the courts and streets.

However, PTI leadership has reiterated that it was only holding talks because of the Supreme Court’s proposal and if the government side delays talks then things would once again go back to square one – before courts and outside the parliament.

Initially, the third round of talks between the two sides was fixed at 11am on Tuesday but on Monday evening, both sides mutually decided to reschedule the meeting at 9pm on Tuesday night at the Senate Secretariat at Parliament.

At the talks, the government side comprised Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique, Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar, Economic Affairs Minister Ayaz Sadiq, Commerce Minister Syed Naveed Qamar, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senator Yousaf Raza Gillani, Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan’s (MQM-P) Kishwar Zehra and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid’s (PML-Q) Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research, Tariq Bashir Cheema.

The PTI is being represented by its Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry and Senator Barrister Ali Zafar. Political observers said that the outcome of the negotiations will have far-reaching implications for Pakistan’s future and its democratic process. Information minister was approached for comments but she didn’t reply.