Govt talks with PTI stall after opposition skips meeting

By Staff Reporter

ISLAMABAD: The government talks with the opposition Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaf party of former prime minister Imran Khan collapsed on Tuesday after the party boycotted a scheduled meeting over the government’s failure to establish a judicial commission to investigate recent violence.

National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq said the negotiations committee would remain intact despite the PTI’s absence, expressing hope the opposition would return to talks.

“We waited for 45 minutes, but received a message that they would not come,” Sadiq told reporters. “I hope that the talks will resume. And the negotiation committee will remain intact and not dissolve… The negotiations are the only way forward [….] I request the opposition to find a way for the dialogue.”

The PTI had made its participation conditional on the formation of judicial commissions to probe the May 9, 2023 violent protests and a crackdown on party protesters in Islamabad on November 26.

The PTI and the government have held three rounds of talks since the last week of December aimed at easing tensions, but negotiations have stalled on key issues, including judicial commissions and the release of PTI prisoners. The government, however, failed to constitute these commissions within the PTI’s seven-day deadline.

The ruling party Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Senator Irfan Siddiqui said the negotiation process had effectively ended after the PTI skipped the meeting.

“Since they didn’t come, the negotiation process has practically ended… However, our egotiating committee is still there and it has not been dissolved,” Siddiqui, committee’s spokesperson, told reporters.

“If they can approach the speaker by their deadline of January 31 or they think this door should be opened again and this process should resume then they can contact the speaker and our committee will still sit down and talk to them before the 31st or even after that date we can continue this process,” the senator added.

PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan reiterated his party’s demand for judicial commissions. “It’s unfortunate that talks could not proceed further. We sat with the government with an open heart. Our demand was that the judicial commission should be announced within seven days,” Khan said. “The party would make every effort, including protests, for the formation of a judicial commission.”