By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s ruling coalition failed to reach a consensus on Tuesday on a proposal put forth by the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) to hold talks with the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, aimed at resolving the ongoing political impasse.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired the meeting of the ruling partners to deliberate upon the proposal.
The PPP’s proposal had been endorsed by several coalition partners after a bid by the right-wing political party Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) to bring both sides to the negotiation table.
Several parties, including the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), Balochistan National Party (BNP-Mengal), Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain-led Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), and National Democratic Movement (NDM) supported the PPP’s proposal to go for dialogue with ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan.
However, key parties, including the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), and Jamhoori Wattan Party, opposed holding the dialogue, dubbing Khan’s PTI as “unreliable.”
Former Prime Minister Imran Khan had formed a three-member committee last week to hold talks with JI, who offered to mediate between the government and Khan to resolve the political deadlock.
JI chief Siraj-ul-Haq also held a separate meeting with Prime Minister Sharif to bring political tensions down in the country.
Tensions between the government and Khan’s party have been on the rise ever since the former premier was ousted in a parliamentary vote last year.
Khan refuses to recognize the government and has been pressurizing it to hold snap elections.
Prime Minister Sharif and his coalition government have categorically rejected his demand and said polls for all assemblies would be held as per schedule in October.
The government and judiciary have also grown increasingly hostile against one another after a judgment by the Supreme Court earlier this month called for elections in Pakistan’s Punjab province to be held on May 14.
The coalition partners, an alliance of 13 political parties in the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), agreed that the parliament’s sovereignty will be safeguarded but failed to reach a consensus on whether the government should hold talks with Khan-led PTI.
During the meeting, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari stressed the importance of dialogue with the opposition, with support from some of the coalition partners.
He said that closing the door for talks is against his party’s principles and “undemocratic”.
Bilawal urged the political forces to work together and steer the country out of the prevailing challenges through dialogue.
“The prevailing political challenges in the country require the political forces to work together and steer the country towards stability through dialogue,” Bilawal was quoted as saying. “It is the need of the hour that the path of dialogue be adopted and the country taken out of the crisis.”
The PML-N of PM Sharif stated that it is still considering holding talks with the opposition.
However, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah has accused the PTI chairman of causing a deadlock in the dialogue process, stating that the former prime minister had previously rejected their offer for dialogue.
Meanwhile, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb has stated that consultations are ongoing within the PML-N on the possibility of initiating talks with the PTI.
She has also denied reports of any differences within the coalition and emphasized that all decisions would be made with consensus. “Although parties may have differing opinions, we always strive to reach a consensus,” she added.
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