ISLAMABAD: The government and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) on Wednesday resumed their dialogue after days of impasse through an initiative brokered by the opposition parliamentary parties.

Both sides at the conclusion of the first round at the residence of a PPP senator agreed to continue the talks.

“The deadlock has ended and both sides have agreed to continue the talks,” PPP Senator Rehman Malik, who hosted the talks, said after the meeting. Even as both sides committed to continue the dialogue, optimism was in short supply with none of the sides ready to back down from their positions.

According to a source at the meeting, the discussions focused on PAT’s demand for resignation of Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif for his alleged involvement in the Model Town firing incident. Shahbaz Sharif has been named by PAT in the FIR along with 20 others, including Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Fourteen PAT workers were killed on June 14 when police fired on them. Eighty others were injured.

Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal, speaking on behalf of the government delegation after the talks, appreciated the role of opposition parties and said that both sides would work towards a solution at the next meeting on Thursday.

PAT president Raheeq Abbasi said his party wanted a negotiated solution to the issue. However, he insisted that the dialogue should be “meaningful and result-oriented”.

He regretted that about 10 rounds of talks held so far had failed to produce any result.

Published in Dawn, September 4th, 2014