Govt pulls plug on talks after PTI walks away

ISLAMABAD:

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)-led ruling coalition pulled the plug on its negotiations with opposition party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Friday, after PTI rejected Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's offer to restart talks aimed at resolving the longstanding political and economic standoff.

The government's decision to end the dialogue process came after PTI unexpectedly walked away from the table, linking further sittings with the formation of judicial commissions to probe the May 9, 2023, and November 26, 2024, incidents.

The confirmation came from Senator Irfan Siddiqui, the spokesperson for the government's negotiation committee, expressing regret over PTI's decision and emphasizing that talks could have provided an opportunity for settling thorny issues had PTI continued the process.

Senator Siddiqui said that PTI specifically took the names of PTI founder Imran Khan and other leaders, including Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Omar Cheema, Ijaz Chaudhry, Yasmin Rashid and Mahmood Rashid, and demanded their release, saying PTI did not write these names in its charter of demands but said that the government should facilitate their release.

"The only way to release Imran Khan and others is for the PTI to ask the Prime Minister to recommend to the President to pardon them," Senator Siddiqui said while talking to a private media house, confirming that the dialogue process has concluded following PTI's refusal to engage in discussions through a parliamentary committee.

Siddiqui stated that PTI's decision to walk away from the table left the government with no choice but to call off the negotiations. Reiterating that PTI refused to wait for the government's response and abandoned the talks unilaterally, Siddiqui revealed the ruling alliance had considered several points from PTI's charter of demands and was open to further discussions.

The senator said that the government did not outright reject the commission's demand but believed a parliamentary committee was the appropriate forum for such discussions.

The collapse of negotiations follows a series of developments, including the prime minister's call for PTI to resume dialogue through a parliamentary committee, which was met with resistance from the opposition. Instead, PTI dissolved its negotiation committee and converted it into a coordination committee aimed at forming a broader opposition alliance against the government.

Siddiqui underscored that the government had been willing to continue the dialogue, adding that expert opinions on PTI's demands had been sought before PTI abruptly ended talks. He also noted that a middle ground could have been found had the opposition attended the fourth round of negotiations.

"There is no stalemate or breakdown in the negotiations at this moment; talks have ended," Siddiqui said, "despite the Prime Minister's Offer, the responses he has received are before everyone."

PM Shehbaz had reiterated the government's willingness to continue dialogue through a parliamentary committee. While criticising PTI's insistence on judicial commissions, the PM pointed out that during Imran Khan's tenure, similar disputes—such as those over the 2018 general elections—were referred to parliamentary committees rather than judicial inquiries.

The negotiations, which began on December 23, 2024, aimed to address political and economic challenges, but collapsed after just three sittings. PTI's demands were presented in the third round as a prerequisite for broader talks.

However, PTI called off negotiations within a week, claiming the government had failed to meet its conditions of constituting judicial commissions within seven days. The government, on the other hand, accused PTI of prematurely walking away from the process without awaiting a formal response "within seven working days".

Meanwhile, under Khan's direction, PTI is now working to unite other opposition parties in an attempt to mount pressure on the ruling coalition. Omar Ayub, leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, confirmed these efforts, stating that PTI was "actively pursuing" alliances to challenge the government.

Ayub has already dismissed the prime minister's invitation for talks, stating, "Shehbaz Sharif's offer is totally rejected." He claimed that PTI had approached negotiations with clear intentions but that the government was unwilling to meet its demands.