The first meeting between the government and opposition PTI committees

The first meeting between the government and opposition PTI committees started today (Monday), marking the beginning of long-awaited negotiations between the parties to alleviate rising political tensions. 

 

Imran Khan, the founder of the PTI and a former premier, revealed earlier this month that his party has a committee for discussions with “anyone.”

Following NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq’s suggestion, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif yesterday established a committee made up of members of the ruling coalition.

The NA speaker presided over today’s in-camera meeting.

All three PML-N leaders—Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, PM’s political advisor Rana Sanaullah, and Senator Irfan Siddiqui—were among the seven members of the government committee who attended the discussions.

Raja Parvez Ashraf and Naveed Qamar of the PPP, Dr. Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, the leader of the MQM-P and minister of education, and Aleem Khan, the leader of the Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party (IPP) and minister of privatization, were also in attendance. 

 

Members of coalition parties appointed as members of the committee, including Sardar Khalid Magsi of the Balochistan Awami Party and Chaudhry Salik Hussain, the leader of the PML-Q and minister of religious affairs, were not present.

Three opposition politicians, including PTI MNA Asad Qaiser, Sunni Ittehad Council Chairman Sahibzada Hamid Raza, and Senator Raja Nasir Abbas of the Majlis Wehdat-i-Muslimeen (MWM), were present at the meeting on the PTI’s side.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja, and Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Omar Ayub Khan were also members of the PTI committee that was established earlier this month. 

According to a statement issued last night by the NA Secretariat, Sadiq had stated that the “government’s and opposition’s members of the National Assembly” would be present at the meeting.

A couple of his party’s top leaders were not accessible for today’s moot, which PTI’s Qaiser, a former NA speaker, described as an “initial meeting,” told Geo News.

It’s interesting that Khawaja Asif, the defense minister, who has consistently participated in previous government committees for political discussions, is not included in this group. 

Speaking at the meeting, Sadiq praised the decision by both parties to establish committees to examine the issues facing the nation and mentioned that, at Gohar’s request, he had advised the premier to do so.

“Thank you everyone… for immediately establishing a committee. The seniority of the leadership present, in my opinion, shows how serious the negotiation is,” Sadiq stated.

“I hope we will discuss Pakistan’s benefit,” he stated, adding that talks were the answer to all issues. 

Sadiq had a separate meeting with the government committee before today’s meeting. “My job is to facilitate the meeting, and both sides will decide themselves,” the NA speaker told reporters earlier.

He emphasized that political stability was necessary for the nation’s economic growth and said, “In a democracy, talks are the only solution.”

The government is going into the negotiations with high hopes that the conference will produce “good results,” Senator Siddiqui told reporters.

Imran’s release was added to the list by Qaiser, even though the PTI committee is primarily charged with two goals: the release of PTI employees and supporters from jail and a judicial investigation into the May 9 riots and the November 26 crackdown. 

“A judicial investigation into the events of May 9 and November 26 should be conducted, and we have made it very clear that we will discuss the release of our (PTI’s) political prisoners and our leader Imran Khan,” Qaiser told Geo News today.

His party’s relationship with the government and the establishment has deteriorated significantly since Imran was imprisoned last year on the basis of multiple cases. Over the past year, the PTI has staged a number of protests, the majority of which became violent in response to governmental crackdown.

Tensions increased following the PTI’s “Final Call” power show last month when task forces were established to combat an alleged “malicious campaign,” and calls to ban the party were repeated. The PTI claimed a dozen The administration formally rejects the deaths of its followers.

However, the government established its own committee made up of members of the ruling coalition after Imran established a five-member committee to hold discussions with “anyone” and his legislators softened their stance in the assembly.

Separately, reports claim that Barrister Saif has been tasked by Imran with bringing the opposition parties together. Saif was instructed by the imprisoned PTI founder to expedite talks with opposition leaders and bring them together under CM Gandapur’s leadership.