TTAP to stay away from NDC confab

Says PTI, the biggest party in opposition alliance, has reservations about the invite

ISLAMABAD:

An opposition parties' alliance — the Tehreek Tahaffuz-e-Ain Pakistan (TTAP) — has declined to participate in a conference being organized by former PTI leaders in view of the reservations of the PTI leadership.

According to reports, the National Dialogue Committee — a forum spearheaded by former federal minister Fawad Chaudhry — contacted the TTAP on Sunday and invited it to take part in the National Dialogue Conference scheduled for January 7. However, the movement refused to attend.

Political parties including the PML-N, the PPP, the PTI, the JUI-F, the JI, the MQM-P, the PML-Q, BAP, the ANP and others are to be invited to the conference.

A TTAP spokesperson said an invitation was received for the conference but the failure to secure the confidence of the PTI — the most important stakeholder — renders the conference meaningless. "Therefore, [the TTP's] participation in the conference will not be possible," he said.

In a renewed bid to ease escalating political tensions in the country, the NDC on Saturday announced that it would convene a large national consultative conference in Islamabad on January 7, aimed at creating space for dialogue amid a deepening political impasse.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Fawad Chaudhry said the initiative is focused on lowering the political temperature rather than conducting negotiations on behalf of any political party.

Talking with reference to the agenda, he said the committee believes that confidence-building must begin with humanitarian relief, particularly for women and political workers incarcerated in Kot Lakhpat Jail.

"If the government and the establishment offer relief to these prisoners, it will help create an atmosphere for negotiations. Only then can we approach Imran Khan and convey that the other side is willing to initiate talks, and ask him to reciprocate," he said.

Chaudhry said invitations have been extended to political parties across the spectrum, as well as lawyers, intellectuals, parliamentarians and policy thinkers who are broadly supportive of dialogue.

He also weighed in on Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi's planned visit to Karachi, amid criticism that the PTI is simultaneously assigning the TTAP a role in dialogue while announcing a street movement.

"Afridi has no alternative. What option does he have? There is no space for dialogue because the government has done nothing so far to demonstrate seriousness or willingness to initiate talks."

The NDC was formed recently by a group of PTI deserters, including Fawad Chaudhry, Imran Ismail and Mahmood Maulvi, all of whom held key positions during the PTI rule. The committee has positioned itself as a bridge-building forum aimed at pulling the country out of prolonged political paralysis.