ISLAMABAD: As talks between the government and the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) resumed on Tuesday night, PTI Chairman Imran Khan announced from his container on D-Chowk that this would be the final round of negotiations between the two sides.

If the deadlock between the two sides persisted even after this round – which is expected to conclude on Wednesday – the PTI chief said that he would announce his “next step” accordingly.

Mr Khan’s statement came after a meeting between the two negotiating teams. Held in a five-star hotel on the edge of the red zone, the talks were joined by two of the government’s big guns; Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique, making the talks a cabinet affair. Federal ministers Pervaiz Rashid, Zahid Hamid and Abdul Qadir Baloch have already been involved in past negotiations.

Mr Dar replaces Punjab Governor Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar, while Mr Rafique is standing in for Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal, who accompanied Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif to China on Monday.

PTI chief warns of reprisals if action initiated against demonstrators

The finance minister’s presence on the negotiating team is significant. This is the first time he has publicly stepped into the fray since the PTI’s long march arrived in the capital. Mr Dar has something of a reputation of being an expert negotiator, having brokered in April this year a key agreement between the Pakistan People’s Party and the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz that allowed for the passage of the Protection of Pakistan Act.

Talking to reporters after the meeting, PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi said the resumption of talks was a promising step.

The meeting ran for nearly 75 minutes, but Mr Qureshi only said two sentences after preliminary introductions. “The situation remains the same for both sides and we will meet again tomorrow afternoon,” he said.

During Tuesday’s meeting, nearly all members of the PTI took bathroom breaks at regular intervals and were seen heading towards the men’s room, mobile phones in hand. Eavesdroppers could hear taps running, but also overheard faint murmurs, indicating that they were consulting with someone outside the venue.

The mood at Tuesday’s meeting was the opposite of what it had been the last time these leaders met on August 23. At the time, PTI leaders had pronounced the talks “dead”, but this time around, they looked confident. But the same could not be said for members of the government’s team, who looked grim, save for the newly arrived finance minister, who forced a smile when he faced the cameras.

The otherwise outspoken Mr Rafique also tried to evade the spotlight and was visibly tense when reporters approached his SUV. Mr Rafique appeared to have driven the five-member team to the hotel without an armed escort.

While negotiations were under way in Conference Room No. 2, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leaders Haider Abbas Rizvi, Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui and Farooq Sattar also arrived at the hotel, ostensibly to discuss the day’s developments and report to their party command.

Haider Abbas Rizvi told Dawn, “Just as the prices of mangoes increase as mango season comes to an end, so too are the PTI’s demands increasing by the day,” he said, adding that swift decision making was the need of the hour.

“We have a say in the talks with the Pakistan Awami Tehreek, but the government seems to be taking them lightly,” he said.

Imran’s warning

Also on Tuesday, the PTI chief warned the government against any action against the participants of the two sit-ins and warned of reprisals if something happened.

Addressing the participants of the Azadi March, Imran Khan said, “If an independent commission starts an inquiry into the rigging of the 2013 general elections, the role of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, former chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry and Jang Group owner Mir Shakeelur Rehman would be revealed,” he added.

Mr Khan also asked the Supreme Court to order the removal of containers from the capital city.

“We respect teachers, policemen and judges in our new Pakistan,” he said.

Published in Dawn, August 27th, 2014