Islamabad [Pakistan], January 25 (ANI): Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has once again changed its stance on the talks with government, indicating that it could return to the table a day after calling off talks, The Express Tribune reported.
PTI conveyed that it could be open to continuing talks. But, only if the government meets its key demands, including constituting judicial commissions and releasing political prisoners, including PTI founder Imran Khan.
The conditional offer comes after PTI’s earlier announcement on January 23, when it set a hard deadline for the establishment of judicial commissions, only for PTI to later put talks on hold after the government did not act within the set time frame, The Express Tribune reported.
Earlier, PTI chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said that PTI founder Imran Khan put the talks on hold as the government did not meet the party’s demands. PTI’s wavering stance was laid bare as it not only refused to participate in the fourth round of negotiations scheduled to be held on January 28 but stressed that discussions will resume only if the government accepts its demands.
Speaking to reporters outside Parliament, Khan initially said that the dialogue had been cancelled as the government refused to meet PTI’s demand to form judicial commissions within a seven-day time period. However, the government rejected it, terming PTI’s deadline “unfortunate” and added that the initial agreement had referred to “seven working days” implying that the deadline for a response was not over yet.
In a reversal of his earlier stance, Gohar Ali Khan said that Imran Khan had merely put the dialogue on hold and not called them entirely. He further said that PTI could reconsider talks with the government if its conditions were met, adding that this would demonstrate the government’s sincerity.
PTI chairman said that the lack of progress on the talks demonstrated the true intentions of government, questioning them for reason that was preventing them from announcing the establishment of the commissions now, The Express Tribune reported.
The talks between the PTI and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government was halted after Imran Khan instructed Gohar Ali Khan to call-off talks with the ruling coalition as it did not form judicial commissions to investigate May 9 and November 26 incidents within the stipulated time.
After PTI’s decision, the government’s negotiation committee spokesperson Senator Irfan Siddiqui had said the deadline was not over as it was decided in the last meeting that the government side would respond to PTI’s charter of demands within “seven working days” and not in just seven days.
Siddiqui had said that it was agreed in the third round of talks that the government committee would give its response within seven working days, which he said ends on January 28 – the day when the National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq has called committees’ meeting at 11:45 am (local time).
Calling on PTI to review its decision, Siddiqui had said that PTI took 42 days to submit its charter of demands and was insisting that government side responds to the demands within a week, wondering why it could not wait for just five more days.
Currently, the fate of talks hangs in balance as PTI has made it clear that the only way to resume talks was to establish commissions. However, the government side stressed that PTI should have waited for the government’s response before calling off talks.
Reacting to rumours that the government was not ready to form commissions, Irfan Siddiqui said that PTI committee should have waited for government’s written response in the next meeting as the government side never said that it would not establish judicial commissions.
He said that it would have been better if PTI gave a statement in writing to end talks rather than conveying the same to the government through talks. After PTI’s refusal, Siddiqui had said that the government’s committee would decide about the future course of action on January 28, The Express Tribune reported.
The first round of talks between PTI and the government was held on December 23, 2024, to discuss the long-standing issues and find a way forward. Since the talks started in December, the two sides have met thrice.
According to the government’s demand, Imran Khan-founded party had presented its charter of demand in the third meeting on January 16 and was waiting for its response. The talks which were started to bring political and economic stability to Pakistan by resolving long-standing issues between PTI and the government. However, the two sides have now disputed the deadline and the talks has come to an abrupt end. (ANI)
