ISLAMABAD:
Talks between the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)-led ruling coalition and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) stalled on Tuesday after the opposition negotiating team was denied access to the PTI founder Imran Khan, according to PTI.
At a press conference, PTI leaders questioned why they were not allowed to meet their jailed leader, despite government assurances that the negotiation committee would have access to Imran to ensure the talks were meaningful.
The PTI and government teams had held two rounds of talks, facilitated by National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq. The second round took place on January 2, but no new date has been set for its third meeting.
Key PTI leaders, including President Barrister Gohar Khan, National Assembly Opposition Leader Omar Ayub and others, said they had not been allowed to meet Imran after the second round of talks.
PTI Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram told The Express PAkGazette that denying a meeting with Imran Khan was causing a delay in finalizing the letter of demands and affecting talks between his party and the ruling coalition.
“It is causing delays because PTI cannot give anything in writing without meeting Imran Khan,” Akram said. “We need access to our leader during the negotiation process.” Replying to a question, Sheikh said the PTI did not speak directly to the government to grant access, rather the party contacted the Speaker’s Office, which spoke to the government.
“Facilitation comes from the Speaker’s Office; we do not deal directly with the government on these matters,” Akram said. Emphasizing that the issue was raised in the meeting with the government, he said the party also approached the President’s Office but was told there was no response yet.
If the committee did not allow the meeting before the next one, he said, there would be no progress in the talks. “What will be discussed is that the government will ask for a letter of demands and we will tell them that we were not allowed to meet Imran,” he said. “So it’s just a waste of time.”
“If the prison doors can be opened at 7 in the morning to delay a [PTI] rally, then this is a right of the people,” Akram said, referring to a meeting between PTI leader Azam Sawati and Imran Khan, which delayed a planned rally in the capital in August. “There was no meeting in the last three years and a half. months; “They should be allowed.”
Formal talks between the government and the PTI began on December 23 in a bid to calm tensions. Both sides had agreed to open formal communication channels, a move that aimed to replace confrontation with constructive dialogue, address long-standing issues and try to steady the ship of political stability.
At the first meeting it was decided that the PT would present its demands in writing to the committee. However, at the second meeting on January 2, the party again sought time arguing that it would need access to Imran to finalize its letter of demands. As of Tuesday, party leaders said, nothing had been provided to them in this regard, causing delays in the talks.
At the press conference, advocate Gohar said the party was yet to receive any information regarding the meeting with Imran and added that the negotiations should not be delayed in this way. He maintained that a third meeting would only take place once the PTI founder was allowed to meet them.
Meanwhile, Barrister Gohar said the party’s call for civil disobedience and limiting remittances from overseas Pakistanis was still intact. He clarified that the negotiations were not aimed at reaching an agreement, but rather were for the people, and emphasized that there should be no delays in the negotiations.
Omar Ayub reiterated the demand for a meeting with the founder of the PTI, highlighting that there has been no response from the government. He expressed displeasure at the government’s failure to facilitate an unconditional meeting.
On December 5, Ayub highlighted that the PTI founder had set up a negotiation committee and presented an agenda, stressing that the party would not tolerate any interference from institutions in the process. Like the PTI founder, he also called for a judicial commission to probe the events of May 9 and November 26, and the release of Imran Khan and other PTI leaders and workers.
Ayub said the party had filed a demand during the last meeting with the government to facilitate an unsupervised and unrestricted meeting with Imran, as the current conditions of the room in Adiala Jail where the meetings with Imran took place “do not were conducive to freedom.” and open conversations.
Ayub said the government’s seriousness towards the negotiations would be seen by allowing the PTI leaders to meet with Imran because the party would take instructions from him. During the press conference, party leaders said the only solution to the country’s problems was free and fair elections.
