Govt ends negotiation process with PTI after rejection of talks

Irfan Siddiqui says PTI's only demand was release of its leaders, including Imran Khan, and pardon for their sentences

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The Pakistani government has officially ended its negotiation process with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party after PTI withdrew from the talks and rejected a renewed offer by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Express News reported.

Senator Irfan Siddiqui, the spokesperson for the government's negotiation committee and a leader of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), confirmed the development in an exclusive interview with Saudi Arabian newspaper, Urdu News.

He stated that the negotiation process with PTI has come to an end, stating that PTI had initially approached talks with great urgency but quickly retreated. He noted that PTI’s sole demand for talks was the immediate release of party leaders, including Imran Khan, and that the only way forward was for PTI to ask the PM to request the president to pardon their sentences.

Siddiqui clarified that the negotiations had neither stalled nor broken down but were simply concluded. He highlighted that, despite the PM’s offer, PTI’s responses had made it clear that the talks had reached a deadlock. He pointed out that PTI’s deadline had passed and that they had dissolved their committee, marking the end of the process.

He further noted that while PTI had outlined several demands that could have built trust, including the formation of a judicial commission, the government had been open to addressing many of these issues.

However, legal advice had indicated that a judicial commission could not be formed while the matter was still in court. Despite this, the government had been willing to consider a compromise.

On the issue of trust-building measures, Siddiqui stated that the government had prepared working papers on various proposals, which had not been finalised but could have included many points of agreement. He emphasized that if PTI had remained committed to negotiations, these proposals would have been brought to the table.

He criticised PTI’s approach, saying that the party’s DNA and core principles were not aligned with constructive negotiations, but rather with street protests and violent tactics. He remarked that PTI's actions reflected a history of walking away from talks, as seen in their abrupt exit from negotiations just days before the deadline.

The senator also revealed that PTI had specifically demanded the release of several of its leaders, including Imran Khan, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, and others, and had urged the government to facilitate their release.

However, these demands were not formally written but were conveyed verbally, with PTI also calling for the release of other prisoners. According to Siddiqui, these demands were the primary focus, while other issues, like the formation of a judicial commission, were secondary.

Regarding the Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act amendments, Siddiqui expressed his personal belief that broader consultations were necessary. He acknowledged that the law should differentiate between legitimate journalism and the spread of fake news.

He affirmed that journalists adhering to professional standards would not be affected by the law, but those engaged in spreading harmful content would be.

The senator concluded by saying that he had advised the PM to listen to the concerns of journalists and work toward amending the law to address their grievances. He expressed his commitment to working on this issue beyond his official duties.