In the round of talks that concluded at Jahangir Tareen’s residence on Monday, PTI vice president Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that some progress had been made between the two sides, though disagreement remained on two core issues.
The PTI team included Qureshi and Tareen whereas the government’s team included Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and Federal Minister for Science and Technology Zahid Hamid.
The government team sped off without talking to the media after Monday’s round concluded.
Qureshi said the conduct of PTI in the negotiations was very positive, adding that they wanted to end the deadlock as well. He added the PTI had shown flexibility in the Islamabad protests and added that they wanted to strengthen democracy.
Meanwhile, JI chief Sirajul Haq, who is head of the Opposition’s political Jirga, said that negotiations with the protesting parties were heading towards a positive outcome. “The responsibility lies more with the federal government,” he said, as he urged all parties to sacrifice and take a step back.
PPP leader Rehman Malik added that “sacrifice is the need of the hour.”
Separately, a member of the Opposition's political jirga told The Express Tribune that progress had also been made on the resignation of the Sharif brothers.
Monday’s meeting came a day after the negotiating teams had claimed that progress had been made, but admitted that there were still certain core issues that needed to be resolved. Speaking to media, Qureshi had said there were three core issues on which the deadlock between the government and the PTI remained. When asked what these three issues were, Qureshi refused to name them.
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