• Body formed by PM includes Ishaq Dar, Rana Sana, Irfan Siddiqui, Pervaiz Ashraf, Naveed Qamar, Khalid Maqbool, Aleem Khan, Salik Hussain and Khalid Magsi
• Huddle to take place at NA speaker’s office; agenda uncertain as each side wants other to show its cards first

ISLAMABAD / LAHORE: The first meeting between negotiating committees, formed by the government and the PTI, is expected to take place today (Monday), kicking off long-anticipated talks between the rival parties to defuse prevailing political tensions.

The meeting is expected to be held today after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, on Sunday, formed a committee that included leaders from his coalition partners in the federal government.

“Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif formed a negotiation committee comprising members of the government,” said an official press release issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

PML-N leaders included in the committee are Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, PM’s political aide Rana Sanaullah and Senator Irfan Siddiqui, according to the PMO statement.

Interestingly, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, who has remained a permanent feature in past government committees for political dialogues, is not part of the group this time.

The committee also includes PPP’s Raja Parvez Ashraf and Naveed Qamar, MQM-P leader Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Istehkam-i-Pakistan leader and Privatisation Minister Aleem Khan, PML-Q leader and Religious Affairs Minister Chaudhry Salik Hussain and Sardar Khalid Magsi of BAP, the press release added.

Incarcerated PTI founder, Imran Khan, had already formed a five-member committee for holding negotiations on a two-point agenda: the release of PTI’s workers and supporters from prisons and judicial inquiry into the events of the May 9 riots and the November 24 protest.

The PTI committee included Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Omar Ayub Khan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, Sunni Ittehad Council Chairman Sahibzada Hamid Raza, PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja and PTI MNA Asad Qaiser.

First meeting

PTI Information Secretary Sheikh Waqqas Akram confirmed the two sides will meet today (Monday).

Meanwhile, National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, who had offered to play the role of a mediator to bring the two sides to the table, has hailed the government’s decision to form a committee for talks.

He has also called leaders from both sides at 11:30am for a meeting in his Parliament House chambers.

He expressed hope the two sides would sit together in good faith, saying, “The speaker’s office is always open for members”, according to a statement issued by the NA Secretariat.

It could not be ascertained what the agenda would be for the first meeting.

“It is the first meeting, and therefore, it is premature to say anything about the meeting and its outcome,” said Mr Qamar, a PPP leader and member of the government’s committee, when contacted by Dawn.

However, he said the first meeting would be a “step forward” to resolve contentious issues between the government and the opposition.

He said the two sides are expected to present their demands and discuss them.

Talking to Dawn, Senator Siddiqui, another member of the government committee, said it needed to be seen whether PTI’s demands were “workable or not.”

On PTI’s main demand of its founder’s release from prison, Mr Siddiqui said: “We have to see what formal demands the PTI brings to the meeting.”

He said terms of reference for the talks will be decided in the first meeting.

When asked about the powers of the government’s committee, Senator Siddqui said the ruling side always came for talks with a “full mandate”.

The outcome of the talks is uncertain even though the two sides have said dialogues were the way out of the current political crises.

On Saturday, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said dialogue was “the only way forward” for the government and opposition.

“The decision to form a government negotiation committee is welcome,” Barrister Gohar said while speaking to journalists.

Earlier, Speaker Sadiq offered to facilitate the negotiations, calling them “the only way forward”.

“Whether we talk about improvements for the country, the law and order situation, climate issues or provincial autonomy, and numerous other matters on which we need to sit and have conversations,” the speaker said earlier this week.

It is left to be seen how the government would react to PTI’s foremost demand: the release of its founder, Imran Khan, from prison.

Mr Khan’s legal troubles are expected to multiply as the verdict in the 190 million pounds reference or the Al-Qadir Trust case is set to be announced today (Monday).

Published in Dawn, December 23rd, 2024