PTI welcomes govt committee for talks

ISLAMABAD:

The senior leadership of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), including its Chairman Gohar Ayub Khan and Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Omar Ayub, on Sunday welcomed the formation of a government committee for political dialogue between the two sides.

In their separate media talks and statements, the party leaders stressed the need for comprehensive and result-oriented talks between the government and the opposition for a swift resolution of the issues currently plaguing he political landscape of the country.

"We welcome the government's announcement of the committee, it is a positive step," Barrister Gohar said. "The negotiations between the government and PTI should be comprehensive and result-oriented," he added.

Gohar's reaction came shortly after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif formed a negotiation committee comprising members of the government coalition to hold talks with the PTI on the advice of National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq.

The committee includes Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, Advisor to Prime Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan, Senator Irfan Siddiqui, Raja Pervez Ashraf, Syed Naveed Qamar, Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Aleem Khan and Chaudhry Salik Hussain.

Speaker Sadiq had proposed the formation of the committee to the prime minister following his interaction with PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar overnight. Gohar had emphasised the need for talks and asked the speaker to play his role in this regard.

The prime minister commended the role of the Speaker and expressed the hope that national security and interest will be prioritised. Speaker Sadiq has invited both the committees to his chamber in the Parliament House on Monday (today).

"Both committees consist of serious individuals, and the negotiations will definitely progress. We are optimistic that the negotiation process is about to begin. I am hopeful that within the shortest time, a productive solution to all issues will be found," Gohar said.

While talking to the media in his constituency in Haripur, Opposition Leader Omar Ayub said that the PTI founder had formed the negotiation committee with good intentions and now the government had also formed a negotiation committee.

The opposition leader, however, said that the mere establishment of a government negotiation committee was not enough, as he reiterated the party's demand for the formation of a judicial commission to investigate the May 9 and November 26 incidents.

"If a judicial commission is not formed to investigate the incidents of May 9 and November 26, we will launch a civil disobedience movement and appeal [to the overseas Pakistanis] to stop sending foreign exchange to the country," he warned.

PTI Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram also said in a statement that the call for civil disobedience was still intact, adding that only PTI founder Imran Khan could withdraw it. He confirmed that the PTI team would meet the government negotiators on Monday (today).

"Tomorrow [today] it will be seen how serious the government is in resolving the issues. Tomorrow our committee will assess the seriousness of the government," he said. After the meeting tomorrow, the PTI founder will be informed about the progress of the talks," he added.