A day after jailed PTI founder Imran Khan issued an ultimatum warning of a civil disobedience movement unless their “legitimate demands” were met, the Prime Minister’s Assistant on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah hinted at a possible progress in negotiations with the opposition party.
During an interview on a local news channel on Friday, Sanaullah indicated that talks between the government and the PTI could move forward in the coming days, following National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq’s efforts to facilitate dialogue.
Imran Khan, in a post on the November 26 repression against PTI protesters.
He warned that if these demands were not met by Sunday, the PTI would begin the first phase of its civil disobedience movement, beginning with a “boycott of remittances.”
Sanaullah’s comments came amid an ongoing debate over the possibility of talks between the government and the PTI, which has dominated political discussions since Imran Khan formed a negotiation committee.
While reports emerged earlier this week of an agreement to use the parliamentary forum for dialogue, PTI’s Asad Qaiser denied that formal negotiations had taken place during his meeting with the Speaker of the National Assembly, which he clarified that it was for give condolences, not for conversations.
Sanaullah emphasized that while all issues are open for discussion, there is no guarantee that the government will accept all of the PTI’s demands. “If we are forced to accept these demands, what is the point of talks?” he commented.
He also responded to questions about the potential impact of the verdict in the Al-Qadir Trust case, which will be announced on December 23, stating that he did not believe the outcome of the case would affect ongoing or future talks.
Meanwhile, PTI spokesperson Sheikh Waqas Akram clarified that while his party had formed a committee for negotiations, it was the government’s responsibility to initiate talks.
“There is an impression that our party has given up,” Akram said, adding that the PTI would not take the first step. He stressed that while there have been compromises between the government and the PTI, they should not be called negotiations.
Imran Khan had earlier expressed his frustration and claimed that the PTI’s negotiation offer had been “ridiculed” and presented as a sign of weakness. He reiterated that the offer was made in the larger national interest and that if the government was not interested in talks, the PTI would continue with its planned civil disobedience movement.
