ISLAMABAD: Saturday proved quite an eventful day in the capital as observers scrambled to keep up with fast-changing political developments.

Signalling his exasperation with backchannel diplomacy, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan said he would not entertain any more mediators, even as the prime minister made friendly overtures towards the party whose protests have been a thorn in the government’s side for some months now.

With the country’s civilian and military leadership bearing witness, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif used his opening remarks at the National Security Conference to extend an olive branch to the PTI, saying that his party was prepared to accept the demand for a recount on 10 National Assembly seats, as conveyed to him by Jamaat-i-Islami emir Sirajul Haq at Mr Khan’s behest.

Sharif accepts demand for recount on 10 NA seats; PTI denies making any such call

“The country cannot afford any more confrontation as it is dealing with the scourge of terrorism, a debilitating energy crisis and an already weak economy,” he told the audience, which was taken aback by this infusion of politics into an otherwise security-themed event.

Mr Sharif’s speech, which was broadcast live by state television, was the first overt gesture towards reconciliation on behalf of the government, indicating that the government was serious about negotiating with the PTI.

The PM made these remarks in front of nearly everybody who had been working to negotiate a truce between the on-the-warpath PTI and the overly defensive ruling party.

But jubilation among those who thought the impasse was at an end was short-lived. Wasting no time, PTI’s information secretary Shireen Mazari denied the party had asked the Jamaat to convey any message to Nawaz Sharif.

Mr Sirajul Haq had been carrying messages between the premier and the PTI leader over the past week. However, the Jamaat’s secretary general Liaquat Baloch said that they were only concerned with what the two leaders – Mr Sharif and Mr Khan – had to say and were not worried by political posturing from any other party member.

Downplaying the PTI chief’s apparent spurning of talks, he said the party had done its bit for political reconciliation and hoped that their efforts would soon bear fruit.

Syed Khursheed Shah, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, who has been among those at the forefront of rapprochement efforts, said on Saturday that no politician could afford to close the door on negotiations and the government should allow the “Azadi March” to proceed as planned.

PTI marches on

“Now no delegation should come to me,” Imran Khan told reporters outside his Bani Gala residence on Saturday evening, referring to the possibility of a meeting with JI leaders.

“The time has come for political parties to make a final decision. Those who will side with the PML-N would be considered ‘courtiers’,” he warned.

The PTI chief said that the government would be responsible if any harm came to him, calling upon party workers to “take revenge on the Sharif brothers” if anything happened to him.

Saying that his party would be available for negotiations only after the Azadi March, he insisted that the he had not sent the PM any messages through the JI.

Talking to Dawn, PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi said the party had never asked for a recount on 10 seats. “We only want fresh elections. We have some other demands as well, which will be revealed on the Independence Day.”

Mr Qureshi said his party would go ahead with the march even if rulers accepted all of the PTI’s demands. “We want to show the real face of the government to the people,” he said, alleging that the government had already blocked all major highways linking Islamabad with the rest of the country.

Political commentators believe that Mr Khan has reached the point of no return and cannot afford to cancel the August 14 demonstration without doing considerable damage to his political clout.

Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid told Dawn that the prime minister had simply repeated what he had been told by the JI chief.

“Mr Sirajul Haq is a respected politician and we have no reasons to distrust him,” said Mr Rashid, who met the JI leader at the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa House just after the security conference. Railways Minister Saad Rafique accompanied him.

The information minister told Dawn the JI leaders had told him that they were in touch with Mr Khan through KP Chief Minister Pervez Khattak.

Mr Rashid also said that the PTI had not officially informed the Islamabad administration about its plans for Independence Day.

Asked if the government would allow the PTI to hold the demonstration in the capital without any intimation, Mr Rashid refused to comment, saying that the government would wait till Aug 14 for a word from the PTI.

Liaquat Baloch, the Jamaat secretary general, also refused to comment on contradictory claims coming out from both parties, saying simply: “Things will become clearer when the time comes.”

Saturday’s National Security Conference had a decidedly political tinge, as nearly all political parties that had been working to mend fences between the government and the PTI were represented at the event.

Although the government insisted all parties that were represented in the National Assembly had been invited, the PML-Q, Sheikh Rashid’s Awami Muslim League and Pervez Musharraf’s All Pakistan Muslim League were conspicuous by their absence. The PTI chose to boycott the event, which meant that KP Chief Minister Pervez Khattak did not attend.

Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar also could not make it to the venue owing to bad weather.

Published in Dawn, August 10th, 2014