PTI MNA Junaid Akbar on Thursday said that Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman had offered to play a role in ending the deadlock between the government and opposition and the PTI’s “doors are open” to it.

Over the weekend, the government and opposition held two rounds of talks ahead of the PTI’s march, initially planned for Islamabad, to demand the release of jailed party founder Imran Khan. The talks, however, ended in a stalemate, with counterterrorism policies and access to Imran emerging as two major sticking points.

Speaking on the Geo News programme ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath’ on Thursday evening, Akbar said Fazl had contacted the PTI leadership and expressed the desire to play his part in ending the deadlock, if agreed to by the party.

“We are political people and we understand that the issue can be solved with dialogue,” he added, emphasising that “the intention of this should be dialogue” rather than an attempt to trap the PTI.

“Whatever role he wants to play in any purposeful dialogue that happens, our doors are open,” he said, adding that the party had been open to this “from the start”.

“We have never run from dialogue; we want the solution to be found through negotiations,” Akbar said, but added that the party was not given “space” for this.

In response to a question, he said that no framework had been put forward by Fazl regarding his role in the negotiations, although he noted that the JUI-F chief had been in touch with PTI leadership while he was away for Umrah.

While the MNA repeatedly stressed that the PTI’s “doors were open” to negotiations, he asserted that this could not be done by force.

“Our doors have always been open, but we will not sit down for negotiations at gunpoint, nor will we agree to them; no one can force us into negotiations,” he said.

The MNA added, “We are ready to sit down with anyone who wants to; we ask that you either convince us, or at least listen to what we have to say.”

Separately, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif also appeared to be confirming that efforts to restart negotiations between the Centre and the opposition were under way.

“I wish a positive result comes out of the efforts of those involved in the talks. But, I have little hope. Those making efforts are my brothers and friends, and I wish them well. We should always avoid unnecessary confrontation,” he said during ARY News programme ‘Khabar Muhammad Malick Ke Saath’.

Discussing the matter, he also remarked that Fazl was seemingly involved, either directly or indirectly.

On Wednesday, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah also said “the doors for talks are open”, recalling Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s remarks from Tuesday calling on the PTI leadership to sit down with the government for dialogue and abandon their protest plans.

However, he also warned that the PTI could pressure the government into accepting its demands by holding the state “hostage” and creating political instability.

Prior to that, a delegation of opposition parties called on Fazl, who advised the government after the meeting not to obstruct the PTI long march heading towards Islamabad, as protests were a democratic right enjoyed by all political parties.

Speaking to the media alongside opposition leaders outside his residence, the JUI-F leader also urged the government to trust the PTI’s intention regarding a peaceful protest. When political parties say they will remain peaceful, their word should be trusted, he said in a comment on measures taken by the government to stop the PTI protesters from entering the federal capital.

A delegation of the government also visited Fazl on Wednesday amid reports about the possibility of his involvement as a mediator between the two sides.

The hours-long negotiations between the government and the opposition ended in a deadlock on Sunday during a second round of talks. The meeting at Parliament House began on Saturday afternoon and continued into the wee hours of Sunday, with discussions focusing on the PTI’s protest march.

After the talks collapsed, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi accused Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi of “sabotaging” the negotiations, saying that he had changed the draft of the agreement despite what had been agreed to earlier.

However, PTI leaders, presenting the opposition’s stance on the failed talks, declared that reconciliation with the government was not possible without including incarcerated party founder Imran Khan in the dialogue process. They said that another reason for the failure of the talks was that the government was not willing to pursue a collective strategy against terrorism.

And following the breakdown of the talks, the PTI launched its long march.