After a protracted spell of political rhetoric and brinkmanship, the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) struck a conciliatory tone on Wednesday as the former said it was willing to resume the stalled talks unconditionally.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has given the go-ahead for resuming talks with the PTI. Imran Khan said that his party would rescind its planned shutdown of major cities the moment the government set up the proposed judicial commission to probe into the alleged electoral fraud.
“Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has ordered [us] to resume talks with the PTI,” Dar told a crowded news conference in Lahore on Wednesday. He was the chief government negotiator when talks with Imran’s party had collapsed in September.
“We are setting no preconditions [for resuming talks], but we also expect that being patriotic Pakistanis the PTI will drop its plan to shut down Karachi on Friday [December 12]. Dialogue will continue but closure of major cities shouldn’t happen,” Dar said.
“Hopefully [negotiating] teams [from both sides] will start the first round of talk on Thursday (today),” he said, adding that dialogue would be held within the parametres of law and the Constitution.
Dar said officials from ISI, MI and IB could not become members of the commission due to a legal hitch. However, he said, the commission would have the authority to call anybody for assistance and guidance. “The judicial commission will comprise judges of the Supreme Court. They are pride of this country and whatever decision they take will be acceptable to us,” he added.
The finance minister appreciated the efforts of the political Jirga, which acted as a bridge between the government and the PTI but said that it was PML-N’s initiative to resume unconditional dialogue with the PTI. “They didn’t play any role in this,’ he said referring to the Jirga.
The minister said the government would take political parties into confidence on the talks. “We had never ended the dialogue yet we are ready to resume the process,” he said, adding that many international organisations have said that the 2013 elections were more transparent and fairer than the previous elections.
The minister also welcomed the PTI’s stance on resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. “I had conveyed to the PTI in the very first meeting that the demand for the prime minister’s resignation was non-negotiable,” he added.
Earlier, PML-N’s core committee, which met in Islamabad with Premier Nawaz in the chair, decided to immediately resume dialogue with the PTI.
Sources told The Express Tribune that the core committee assigned Ishaq Dar and Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal to reengage Imran’s party.
Sources said the core committee decided to not give extra leverage to the PTI in talks on the formation of the judicial commission. The negotiating team will also not go into the nitty-gritties of the Terms of Reference (ToRs) of the commission. The core committee urged that the commission will probe the allegations of rigging under Pakistan Inquiry Act 1956, sources added.
Imran amenable to talks
Earlier in the day PTI chief Imran Khan said his party could withdraw its call for shutdown of major cities and then the country if the judicial commission was set up through an ordinance.
“I do not want to shut down cities and our protests are aimed at getting the government back to the negotiating table,” Imran told journalists at his residence in Bani Gala. “I do not want to shut down the country but we are being pushed to the wall and left with no other option,” he added.
Imran said the government had already agreed with the PTI to constitute the commission but backed out when pressure was eased. “The judicial commission was supposed to be constituted through an ordinance and the differences were on the ToRs,” he added.
Taking about the prime minister’s letter to the chief justice for the constitution of the commission, Imran said the government wrote the letter but did not pursue it. “We kept our doors open for dialogue despite the fact that they [government] opened fire on our rallies,” he added.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 11th, 2014.
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The Govt. is on the ropes. Imran has won every round. It is a pity all this could have been avoided if the former had agreed to a judicial commission in the first place. The judicial commission should be rapidly constituted. It’s terms of reference should be simple and there should be a time frame work. It is a promising sign that both parties have accepted it’s findings to be binding. The country is going through a turmoil. Enough is enough. Let us have a period of calmness. Politics is the art of possible.!
This is the only way forward sit & talk. Instead of hitting each other with sticks on the same roads the same ppl grew up together ...
Funny that imran has to fight for getting the deal after more than hundred days, the same deal that he had a week after the dharna started. This is what you call stupidity.
Save his Face please.
First wise decision taken by both Shareefs... because actually their are only 2 persons in core committee of PML(N) (both brothers).
PTI should be pragmatic and go for solid electoral reforms and even if they require constitutional amendment. 2-3 years in life of country is a small blip.Let us move in right direction
Plan c worked. Looks like the doves in pmln are finally waking up and realising that pti does have massive street power. Makes the pmln hawks look foolish now who were claiming plan c failed.
We should not negotiate with terrorists disrupting our cities
The Govt. is on the ropes. Imran has won every round. It is a pity all this could have been avoided if the former had agreed to a judicial commission in the first place. The judicial commission should be rapidly constituted. It's terms of reference should be simple and there should be a time frame work. It is a promising sign that both parties have accepted it's findings to be binding. The country is going through a turmoil. Enough is enough. Let us have a period of calmness. Politics is the art of possible.!
Government must not negotiate with PTI terrorists!