• Second round of talks runs into hours, with little update shared on progress
• Opp leaders demand meeting with Imran before calling off march
• KP CM determined to hold long march, vows events of May 9 will not be repeated

ISLAMABAD: After hours of negotiations on the second day of their dialogue on Saturday, the government and the opposition parties were on the verge of a breakthrough amid hopes that both sides would reach an agreement.

The meeting at Parliament House, which began shortly before 5pm, went on for several hours, with few details shared with the media as both sides had agreed not to speak to reporters before matters concluded.

As the huddle began, the NA speaker expressed his hope that the talks would proceed in the same “cordial atmosphere” as Friday’s, according to a post on the NA’s X account.

The government delegation included Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, Minister for States and Frontier Regions Amir Muqam, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, Prime Minister’s Adviser on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah and Minister of State for Interior Tallal Chaudhry.

Senator Sherry Rehman, along with MNAs Syed Naveed Qamar and Aijaz Hussain Jakhrani, represented the PPP.

The opposition delegation comprised Senate Opposition Leader Allama Raja Nasir Abbas, PTI interim chairman Gohar Ali Khan, Opposition Chief Whip Amir Dogar, MNA Asad Qaiser, PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja and PTI Sindh President Haleem Adil Sheikh.

Later in the day, visuals broadcast by DawnNewsTV showed Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi departing Parliament House holding a document in his hand, with media reports suggesting he was likely to consult President Asif Ali Zardari. More than an hour later, footage showed Mr Naqvi returning to Parliament House, with the interior minister maintaining his silence as reporters swarmed him for queries.

Sources on both sides told Dawn that the PTI wanted its incarcerated founder Imran Khan to be shifted from jail to a hospital for medical treatment, while the government insisted that the opposition call off its protest march on Islamabad, scheduled for Oct 4.

Some opposition leaders, including Mehmood Khan Achakzai, also said that they could not decide on postponing the long march without prior consultations with incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan.

Media reports claimed that both sides were discussing a draft agreement to reach an understanding, but there was no official word by the time this report went to press after midnight.

Opposition decides SOPs

Prior to the meeting with the government, the opposition held a meeting in which standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the talks were finalised. It was decided that it would be proposed during the meeting that no one from either side would speak to the media during the talks and that a joint statement would be issued afterwards to avoid any misunderstanding.

CM adamant on march

Earlier in the day, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi voiced his determination to hold the protest march on Oct 4 and vowed to prevent a repeat of the events of May 9, 2023.

Reacting to the KP CM’s remarks, PML-N minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry said such statements could affect the ongoing negotiation process even though the government wanted them to be “meaningful and fruitful”. He urged PTI leaders to refrain from making such statements until the final stage of the negotiations, so that the dialogue process was not “harmed”.

Speaking to reporters ahead of the meeting, PPP’s Rehman stressed that her party was making efforts to solve issues in a democratic manner.

Asked about KP CM being adamant on the PTI march, the PPP leader said it was up to the PTI, but added that she would refrain from making comments before the talks conclude. While acknowledging that each party had its positions, she noted that the objective of holding negotiations was to “discuss those positions”.

Published in Dawn, October 4th, 2026