National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq will chair an in-camera meeting between negotiating teams representing the federal government and the PTI on January 2, a notification from the NA secretariat read on Monday.

This will be the second meeting between the negotiating parties, discussing the PTI’s demands to release jailed party workers and the formation of a judicial commission to probe the events of May 9, 2023 and November 26.

According to the notification, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, Sadiq “will chair a 2nd meeting (in-camera) on negotiations between Treasury and Opposition on Thursday, the 2nd January, 2025 at 11:30am” at the Parliament House.

The January 2 date was earlier announced when on December 26, Chairman of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) Sahibzada Hamid Raza announced that the PTI would formally give the government time until January 31 to conclude ongoing negotiations.

“The cut-off date for negotiations is January 31,” Raza said. “On January 2, when our committee meets the government to continue the negotiations, (Opposition Leader in the National Assembly) Omar Ayub will formally give them this deadline.”

Meanwhile, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said he was not opposed to negotiations in an interview today on Geo News programme ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath’ but questioned the change in approach of the PTI leadership to talks from refusal to acceptance.

“I would like to know how this change came. This is a complete u-turn. I have every right to suspect that there is a method to this madness that I see a lack of sincerity in this,” he said of the whole process.

Since PTI founder Imran Khan’s incarceration last year based on several cases, his party’s relationship with the government, as well as the establishment, has turned exceedingly sour. The PTI has held several protests over the last year, most of which escalated into violence after facing state repression.

After PTI’s power show and claims of supporter deaths, tensions rose, leading to calls to ban the party. However, Imran formed a committee for talks, and his lawmakers softened their stance.

Following a recommendation from NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also formed a committee and talks between the parties began to ease tensions.