
Amid changing stances of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on the talks with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)-led coalition government, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Monday that avoiding dialogue was an undemocratic attitude that damaged the national unity.
The prime minister said that communication and dialogue between political parties was the soul of democracy, adding that these communications helped develop a common strategy to resolve problems faced by the country and the nation.
The prime minister's statement came on the heels of the PTI's decision to initially boycotting the negotiations and then linking them to the ruling alliance's announcement of establishing two separate judicial commissions to investigate May 9, 2023 and November 26, 2024 incidents.
It also came at a time when the PTI leadership has already announced that it would not attend the fourth round of talks scheduled to be held on January 28 (today), if its demands were not accepted. The government has not yet accepted any of the PTI's demands, including release of political prisoners.
"Avoiding dialogue reflects an undemocratic attitude, fosters an environment of tension and harms the spirit of national unity," Shehbaz said in a meeting with the spokesperson of the government's negotiation committee, Senator Irfan Siddiqui, at the Prime Minister's Office.
Shehbaz stressed that Pakistan required reconciliation and harmony rather than chaos, confrontation, and conflict. He underscored the importance of adopting a unified strategy to tackle critical issues, such as rebuilding the national economy and eradicating terrorism.
The prime minister further stated that the country was progressing and its global stature was improving. "No one will be allowed to hinder this journey of development and progress through undemocratic practices," Shehbaz said.
Senator Siddiqui had called on the prime minister to brief him on the negotiations held with the PTI committee, so far. The government and the opposition have held three rounds of talks, so far, including their maiden parleys on December 23, 2024.
The first two meetings could not go beyond optics, but in the third meeting, the PTI finally submitted in charter of demands to the government. The PTI negotiation committee presented the demands only after their meeting with jailed PTI founder Imran Khan in the Adiala jail.
The PTI charter included two main demands formation of two judicial commissions; and "support" of the federal and provincial governments in bail, sentence suspensions and acquittals of "political prisoners" identified by the PTI.
The PTI charter had stated that the demands were presented as a "prerequisite to wider negotiations with respect to the restoration of the Constitution, the rule of law, respect for the people's mandate, and free and fair elections".
However, seven days after the third round, the PTI founder abruptly called off the dialogue, on the grounds that the government had not accepted its demands within a week's time. Siddiqui, however, had termed the unilateral decision of boycotting talks "unfortunate".
Siddiqui had said that the PTI itself had agreed in the joint statement issued after the third meeting that the government would respond to its demands within "seven working days." He had subsequently urged the PTI to review its decision.
A day after announcing the end of the talks, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan deviated from his previous statement and said that Imran Khan had put the talks on hold, adding that the PTI could mull over the talks resumption only if the government constituted the judicial commissions.
Despite the PTI's announcement of boycott, National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq called a meeting of the negotiation committees on January 28 (today) at 11:45am at the Parliament House. Siddiqui had told media that the government's response would be presented in the meeting.
For his part, Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, who is the main figure in these talks, telephoned the PTI negotiation committee head Omar Ayub and invited him to in the meeting with the government side on Tuesday (today).
In his conversation, the speaker emphasised that dialogue was the only viable solution to resolving all issues, emphasising the importance of finding a common ground on contentious issues through table talks and negotiations.
Ayub expressed concerns over the government's use of delaying tactics in addressing the PTI's demands. He insisted that negotiations could not proceed without the formation of the judicial commissions, which remained a critical demand of the PTI.
Commenting on these developments, the government committee spokesperson, Senator Siddiqui, told a private news channel that the government would also disband its negotiations committee if the PTI did not attend the next meeting.
Currently, both sides are emphasising the importance of dialogue but simultaneously holding firm on their respective preconditions; resulting in a stalemate. PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar repeated on Monday that they would not participate in talks and that the decision had officially been conveyed.
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