After the exploratory round of talks that yielded little, government negotiators met with officials from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) for a second round of talks Friday night in a bid to break the political deadlock.
First, a government committee – comprising Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, SAFRON Minister Lt Gen (retd) Abdul Qadir Baloch, Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal, Punjab Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar and PML-Zia chief Ijazul Haq – met with a five-member PTI team at a local hotel.
The PTI team comprised party stalwarts Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Makhdoom Javed Hashmi, Dr Arif Alvi, Asad Umar and Jahangir Tareen.
Talking to reporters after the meeting, Qureshi said the government negotiators shared their point of view over the six demands the PTI had presented on Wednesday. “We have heard their [government’s] concerns and presented our own opinion on that as well,” he added. The two sides agreed to meet again today (Saturday).
Later in the night another team of government negotiators, including Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, SAFRON Minister Abdul Qadir Baloch and senior MQM lawmaker Haider Abbas Rizvi, went into a session with a PAT committee, led by the party’s president, Raheeq Abbasi. The talks continued into early hours of Saturday.
Talking to reporters prior to the meeting, Ahsan Iqbal said, “We have received a positive signal from the other side and we are meeting again to push the dialogue process forward.” “It is a good omen that the other side has shown its willingness to resume stalled talks,” he added.
PAT chief Dr Tahirul Qadri had suspended negotiations on Thursday accusing the government of using blockades to prevent food, water and other necessary items from reaching participants of the sit-in on Constitution Avenue. According to sources, PAT resumed talks due to the insistence of MQM chief Altaf Hussain.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 23rd, 2014.
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