ISLAMABAD: The opposition jirga, which met again on Thursday night, claimed that the government and the protesting Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) had agreed to resume talks to resolve the 57-day-long political impasse that had paralysed the country

Jirga leader and Jamaat-i-Islami Emir Sirajul Haq told reporters after the meeting that the jirga would first meet Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday (Oct 13).

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He said the group believes that the imminent threat of imposition of martial law and killings of workers of protesting parties did not exist any longer. “The jirga has managed to reduce tensions and avoid bloodshed,” he said.

Talking to Dawn, Jirga member Senator Kalsoom Perveen said all three sides – the government, PTI and PAT – had shown interest in resuming dialogue that was severed last month.

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In its meeting on Sept 29, jirga members had vowed that they would hold talks directly with leaders from all three sides, but it was believed that they had not invited the jirga for talks.

She said, “Earlier the jirga wanted to meet them, but now they want to meet us.”

Talks between the government and the protesting PTI/PAT were suspended for over a month because of workers’ arrests on the orders of the government.

In its meeting on Thursday, the jirga urged all three sides to come back to the negotiation table and end the political crisis.

Jirga members had claimed that the prevailing political impasse would have been settled if PTI and PAT workers were not arrested. They claimed that the political crisis would have been settled and all major demands of the PAT and PTI accepted.

The jirga, which met after 10 days, pinned hopes on the fact that dialogue was the only way to overcome the crisis.

The jirga had sent two separate letters to all three sides on Sept 8 and 18, presenting several recommendations to them to end the standoff and had asked for their replies so that talks could be resumed keeping in view their respective viewpoints.

However, jirga members expressed the concern that neither side had replied to the jirga’s recommendations yet.

Published in Dawn, October 10th, 2014