ISLAMABAD: In the second round of talks between PTI and the government, PTI has decided to present its charter of demand after consulting Imran Khan. Decided. After PTI sought time for consultation with Imran, it was decided that the third round of talks will be held next week for which the time and date will be decided. will be determined.
On Thursday, the second round of in-camera talks was held in Parliament House under the chairmanship of Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, in which Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, Rana Sanaullah, Irfan Siddiqui, Raja Pervez Ashraf and others participated on behalf of the government. Syed Naveed Qamar, Farooq Sattar, Ejazul Haq, and Khalid Hussain Magsi. The opposition committee included Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ali Amin Gandapur, Salman Akram Raja, Sahibzada Hamid Raza, Asad Qaiser, Umar Ayub and Raja Nasir Abbas.
After the meeting, Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq said that the opposition will present a charter of demands. PTI leaders have mentioned the demands but need more time to consult Imran Khan. He said that the third round of negotiations will be held next week. He said that the negotiations took place in a pleasant atmosphere.
Sadiq said that Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ali Amin Gandapur gave good suggestions and spoke openly. Everyone has decided to talk for the betterment of Pakistan. Earlier during the meeting, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq said that we are all Pakistanis, the welfare of our people is our responsibility, negotiations will reduce bitterness and the environment will improve. I hope that the parties will negotiate in a positive manner.
The Speaker said that he is trying to bring other important issues including terrorism, economy under the consideration of this committee.
Reading out a joint statement after the meeting, PMLN leader and spokesperson of the negotiation committee, Senator Irfan Siddiqui, said that the next round of talks will take place after a week as the opposition has sought time for consultation and guidance from the PTI founder. He said that the talks took place in a favorable atmosphere and hoped that PTI would come up with its charter of demand in black and white in the next meeting. He said that it has been decided that the time of the third meeting will be fixed next week after the meeting of the PTI committee with Imran Khan.
Irfan Siddiqui told the media that PTI leaders have demanded the formation of a judicial commission. He said that we were expecting that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf would come up with written points in the light of which discussions could be held. Siddiqui said that PTI has demanded a facility to meet Imran Khan and they want to take guidance from the founder for this process. We have no objection to the PTI leaders meeting Imran Khan and seeking the facility. PTI has sought one more week’s time after which the third round of talks will be held next week. If the opposition’s demands come in written form, we will see what they want.
The senator said that PTI leaders have talked about democratic stability. “The tone of the opposition is not harsh and many things have been appreciated by them. The discussion in a pleasant atmosphere is also a positive development,” he said. He said that before the negotiations, he had decided that all statements and events outside the meeting would not be given importance. He said that whatever sentence is handed down in Al-Qadir Trust on January 9, there will be no hindrance from our side in continuing the negotiations based on this result.
Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ali Amin Gandapur said that the attitude of the government seems to be inclined towards solving the problems, but it is obvious that everything is being done by the will of the establishment.
The KP Chief Minister welcomed the development regarding the remission of the sentences of 19 accused in the May 9 incidents. “These things had to be settled once and for all in Pakistan and I think today is the day,” Gandapur said. Issues should be resolved democratically and politically. Imran Khan has blessed these talks and he will decide what to do and how to do it.
Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar said that he expected Tehreek-e-Insaf to present its demands in writing today so that the negotiation process could be taken forward. Dar said that he had no objection to the PTI committee coming up with its own charter of demands after taking guidance from Imran Khan, so that the two committees could take the matter forward amicably.
Speaking to a private news channel on Tuesday, PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja said that the talks will be successful only when there is justice for all.
He reiterated PTI’s demands for the release of “political prisoners”, including Imran, and set up a judicial commission to investigate the incidents of 9 May 2023 and the crackdown on PTI protesters on 26 November. He further said that if these demands are not fulfilled, we will decide the future course of action.
To a question, Raja noted that January 31 was the “cut-off date” for talks and after that, his party would decide on the next course of action.
Meanwhile, Assistant Prime Minister on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah welcomed the “positive statements” of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur and Raja during today’s meeting.
“The PTI committee wanted to take guidance from its founder,” he said while speaking on Geo News’ program ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Ke Saath’, adding that the government team did not set any conditions for talks.
Referring to PTI’s demand for the release of its founder, Sanaullah said that he would question the former ruling party as to how such a demand could be presented.
In response to a question, the PML-N leader said that the establishment neither asked nor stopped his party from holding talks. Even ISPR DG said that political parties should talk to each other.
Further, he rejected the government’s offer to release the jailed Imran, saying that no one has issued a statement about the PTI founder’s release within 15 days.