Islamabad:
The ruling coalition led by the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) led by its negotiations with the opposition party Pakistan Tehreek-E-Insaf (PTI) on Friday, after PTI rejected the offer of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for Restart the conversations aimed at resolving the long political and economic confrontation.
The government’s decision to finish the dialogue process occurred after PTI unexpectedly moved away from the table, linking more sessions with the formation of judicial commissions to investigate the incidents of May 9, 2023 and on November 26, 2024.
The confirmation of Senator Irfan Siddiqui, the spokesman of the Government’s negotiation committee, expressing repentance by PTI’s decision and emphasizing that the conversations could have provided the opportunity to solve thorny problems if PTI continue the process.
Senator Siddiqui said that PTI specifically took the names of the founder of PTI Imran Khan and other leaders, including Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Omar Chema, Ijaz Chaudhry, Yasmin Rashid and Mahmood Rashid, and demanded their launch, saying that PTI did not write these names in His charter in his charter, of demands, but said that the government should facilitate its release.
“The only way to free Imran Khan and others is that the PTI requests the prime minister to recommend the president to forgive them,” said Senator Siddiqui while talking to a private media house, confirming that the dialogue process has concluded After PTI’s refusal. Participate in discussions through a parliamentary committee.
Siddiqui declared that PTI’s decision to move away from the table left the government without any remedy to cancel negotiations. Reiterating that PTI refused to wait for the government’s response and abandoned the conversations unilaterally, Siddiqui revealed that the ruling alliance had considered several points of PTI’s demand letter and was open to more discussions.
The senator said that the government did not directly reject the commission’s demand, but believed that a parliamentary committee was the appropriate forum for such discussions.
The collapse of the negotiations follows a series of developments, including the call of the prime minister so that PTI resume the dialogue through a parliamentary committee, which met the resistance of the opposition. Instead, PTI dissolved its negotiation committee and made it a coordination committee aimed at forming a broader opposition alliance against the Government.
Siddiqui stressed that the government had been willing to continue the dialogue, adding that expert opinions on PTI’s demands had been sought before PTI allegedly finished conversations. He also noted that a middle ground could have been found if the opposition had attended the fourth round of negotiations.
“There is no stagnation or breakdown in the negotiations at this time; the conversations have ended,” said Siddiqui, “despite the offer of the prime minister, the answers he has received are before all.”
Prime Minister Shehbaz had reiterated the government’s disposition to continue dialogue through a parliamentary committee. While criticizing PTI’s insistence on judicial commissions, the prime minister said that during the possession of Imran Khan, similar disputes, such as those that during the general elections of 2018, referred to parliamentary committees instead of judicial investigations.
The negotiations, which began on December 23, 2024, aimed to address political and economic challenges, but collapsed after only three sessions. PTI’s demands were presented in the third round as a previous requirement for broader conversations.
However, PTI suspended the negotiations within a week, claiming that the Government had not fulfilled its conditions of constitution of judicial commissions within seven days. The Government, on the other hand, accused PTI to move away prematurely from the process without waiting for a formal response “within seven business days.”
Meanwhile, under the direction of Khan, PTI is now working to unite other opposition parties in an attempt to assemble pressure on the ruling coalition. Omar Ayub, leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, confirmed these efforts, stating that PTI was “actively chasing” alliances to challenge the government.
Ayub has already dismissed Prime Minister’s invitation for conversations, stating: “Shehbaz Sharif’s offer is totally rejected.” He said that PTI had approached negotiations with clear intentions, but that the government was not willing to meet its demands.
