ISLAMABAD: The government encouraged the opposition to stay involved in the conversation and pledged to address their requests in the fourth session of negotiations on January 28 after the PTI opted to withdraw from the talks until judicial commissions were established.
Shortly after the fourth session of negotiations, which was confirmed to take place on January 28, was confirmed, the PTI announced that it was canceling the meetings. The two sides have completed three rounds of negotiations so far, and at the most recent round, the PTI presented its written requests. The government requested a response within seven working days.
In a message on the social networking platform X, PTI leader Omar Ayub said, “No commissions, no negotiations.” Mr. Ayub stated earlier in the day at a press conference that the PTI would not take part in the talks until the government established commissions to look into the events of May 9 and November 26.
However, the administration adopted an accommodative stance and requested that the PTI continue to participate in the negotiations. The government’s negotiation committee spokesperson, Senator Irfan Siddiqui, stated that on January 28, they would provide a written answer to the opposition party’s charter of demands.
After a meeting with ruling allies to discuss the PTI’s demands, the PML-N senator told Dawn, “We (government) have promised the PTI that we will present our response to the dialogue committee within seven working days and thus we will definitely submit our replies on Jan 28.”
The senator seemed optimistic about the opposition party’s chances of continuing to participate in the discussion when asked about the PTI’s decision to skip the upcoming meeting until the commissions were established.
Regarding the dialogue to ease political tensions, the senator stated, “They (PTI) will definitely join the next meeting, and they should because the dialogue was started by them, as they first formed their negotiation committee.”
He stated that the government had not made a decision on the PTI’s proposals for the commissions’ creation, but that discussions were taking place on such issues. He added that it would be “illogical” for the PTI to skip the committee’s upcoming meeting.
He went on to say, “We want them to… not sit (with the government) without any conditions and leave the dialogue process incomplete.”
The senator declared, “We will respond appropriately to the PTI’s demands (and) in the same way that the opposition party had submitted its demands.”
According to him, the government had also requested that Ayaz Sadiq, the speaker of the National Assembly and the chairman of the negotiation committee, call the committee’s fourth meeting on January 28 or any other day with the PTI’s approval.
Senator Siddiqui stated that the ruling allies would continue to meet everyday till the fourth round of negotiations and convened for the second day on Wednesday to discuss the PTI’s charter of demands.
According to him, the gathering asked a few lawyers and legal experts to speak on Wednesday, and they gave their opinions based on the Constitution and a few court rulings.
“A few legal experts will attend tomorrow’s (Thursday) meeting and provide their input on this matter as well,” he continued.
During its nationwide violent protests on May 9, 2023, and November 26, 2024, the PTI had called for the creation of judicial commissions and the release of all PTI prisoners.
In a private television program, Khurram Dastagir Khan, another PML-N leader, declared that the government will not make concessions about the May 9 riots.
It should be mentioned that in December of last year, a dialogue between the administration and the opposition began following a protracted deadlock.
The PTI was first reluctant to make written demands, but after receiving approval from Imran Khan, it did so, calling for the creation of judicial commissions and the release of its detainees.