PM offers PTI talks bait, but Imran refuses to bite

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and former premier Imran Khan simultaneously swung into action but exactly in the opposite directions on Thursday as the incumbent chief executive asked the opposition party to resume talks via parliamentary committee while the former premier dissolved its negotiation committee to close the chapter.

The prime minister, while addressing the federal cabinet, said that the government was ready to form a parliamentary committee to continue talks with the PTI as opposed to PTI's demand to constitute a judicial commission each to probe May 9, 2023, and November 26, 2024, incidents.

"It takes two to tango. This dialogue should move forward so that the country can progress, instead of bearing more harm due to their violent protests," the premier said.

The premier recalled how former premier Imran Khan had constituted a parliamentary committee to probe the 2018 general elections instead of forming a judicial commission, saying he was also ready to constitute a house committee to take talks forward even after PTI "fled" from talks before getting a formal response from the government side.

PM Shehbaz's offer has come just a day before the expiry of the government's deadline for dissolving its negotiation committee, which was constituted to hold talks with PTI. However, in line with PTI leadership's previous stance of boycotting talks until the government announces judicial commissions, jailed PTI founder finally dissolved its negotiation committee and tasked its members to work as a coordination committee to engage parties for making grand opposition alliance.

During his cabinet address, PM Shehbaz reiterated the government's readiness to form a House committee to investigate the February 2024 elections, while also urging the Khan-made 2018-formed committee to complete its pending probe in election rigging allegations.

After the 2018 elections, PM Shehbaz said, when the opposition wearing black armbands had entered parliament in protest, Imran Khan, the then prime minister, had assured him of a thorough investigation through a House committee rather than a judicial commission. However, he regretted, that committee only met once or twice before fading into inaction.

Additionally, PM Shehbaz called for a similar parliamentary inquiry into the November 26 protest, along with the PTI's 2014 sit-in in Islamabad when the party was in opposition. Emphasizing the need for dialogue over disruptive protests, he said the process must continue to prevent further harm to the country.

Reflecting on the recent negotiations, the prime minister noted that the government had accepted PTI's proposal, formed a committee and initiated talks through the National Assembly speaker. The committee had asked PTI to present its demands in writing and the government agreed to provide a written response. However, he said, PTI pulled out of the scheduled meeting on January 28th.

He further said that government representatives had assured PTI of a written response and invited them back to the table but they didn't come to attend the fourth round of talks between the two sides.

Meanwhile, PTI negotiation committee's spokesperson Sahibzada Hamid Raza posted a statement on X on Thursday, stating that the opposition's committee has formally been dissolved in line with the directions of Imran Khan. Raza added that the committee has now been converted in a coordination committee, which will strive to make a grand opposition alliance against the ruling alliance.

Under Khan's vision, he said that the opposition committee didn't budge an inch from its stance – constitution of judicial commissions and sought "support" of the federal and provincial governments in bail, sentence suspensions and acquittals of "political prisoners" identified by the PTI – and exposed government's delaying tactics. "On the basis of it," he said, "the government failed in establishing its false narrative."

The negotiation between the government and the opposition started on December 23, 2024, with a view to amicably finding a solution to the political and economic issues facing the country, as well as settling the long-standing thorny issues between the two sides. However, the process hit a snag just after three sittings.

The PTI had presented its charter of demands to the government in the third round, saying these demands were presented as a "prerequisite to wider negotiations" on other issues. 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 for the commission within a week's time. A day later, Barrister Gohar deviated from the statement and said that Imran had put the talks on hold.

Senator Irfan Siddiqui, the spokesperson for the government's negotiation committee had wondered why the PTI called off the talks without waiting for the government's response to its demands. He said that the opposition could have found "an opening" had it come to the fourth round.

Siddiqui said that opinions were solicited from constitutional and legal experts on the PTI's charter of demands. He further stated that the government had decided to withhold its final response for now, adding that its negotiations committee would remain in place until January 31.

Responding to the premier's reaching out during an interview to a private news channel, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Omar Ayub said: "Shehbaz Sharif's offer totally rejected."

He said the opposition had clear intentions and demands but the government could not fulfil them.

Questioned about the PTI reaching out to other opposition parties to form a political alliance for a movement against the government, he replied in the affirmative, saying the PTI was "actively" pursuing the matter with other parties.