‘My doors remain open’: NA Speaker urges govt, opposition to continue talks amid PTI’s absence from 4th round

After the PTI called off dialogue with the government, National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq on Tuesday said his doors remain open, and expressed hopes that the government and the opposition would hold talks to find a way forward.

Talks between the government and the PTI commenced in the last week of December to bring down political temperatures, but despite weeks of negotiations, the dialogue process stalled on major issues — the formation of two judicial commissions and the release of PTI prisoners.

After the PTI last week called off talks with the government, citing a delay in the latter’s response to its demands presented in the third meeting, the government committee’s spokesperson, Senator Irfan Siddiqui, yesterday indicated ending the dialogue if the opposition skipped today’s moot.

While speaking to the media regarding the fourth round of talks, Sadiq said: “This committee has come together today. We waited for about 45 minutes for our friends in the opposition to come.

“We messaged the secretary to leader of the opposition who said ‘it seems like they won’t be coming to the meeting’. We have it saved.”

He went on to say: “We were hoping that negotiations are the only way to proceed”, and noted that the prime minister formed a negotiating committee the same day PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar made the request.

“We were hoping that they [PTI] would come today and the dialogue could advance. But because the dialogue cannot proceed in their absence, there is no need to further speak about or continue this meeting.

“My doors remain open. I again express hopes for the government and the opposition to hold talks to find a way forward.

“In negotiations, you don’t put forward conditions first — you sit [for talks] and negotiate, where decisions are made on what is accepted and what isn’t, whether there is an alternate proposal.”

Deputy Prime Minister Senator Ishaq Dar said while speaking to the media in Islamabad that the government had come to the meeting with an answer to the PTI’s demands.

“We had prepared for the talks; I wish they had come,” he said, noting that the talks are within the ambit of the constitution.

He added his hopes that the opposition would contact the National Assembly Speaker and attend the committee meeting. ’We do not want to make any unilateral statement.“

While speaking to the media outside Parliament House, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif was asked whether the negotiating committee would be dissolved if PTI did not attend the talks.

“No one can predict the dissolution of the negotiating committee,” he said. “They have refused to sit in on the talks, so this is a futile exercise.”

He added, however, that it was a separate matter if the government negotiating committee wanted to wait for PTI.

The minister was asked by the media whether the avenues for negotiations seemed to be closing, to which he replied that closing avenues for negotiations was against democracy.

“Some solution comes out in every situation,” he responsed.

The PTI had made its participation in today’s meeting conditional to the formation of judicial commissions to probe the May 9 and November 26 incidents.

A report in today’s The News quoted members of the government’s negotiating team as saying they have something to offer the PTI if they attend the talks. PML-N Rana Sanaullah said: “Neither will we reject their demands outright nor will we accept them entirely. We will offer them some room to proceed further.”

According to Siddiqui, the response to the PTI’s charter of demands would not be made public in case the opposition party skipped the meeting. The government committee, however, will attend the in-camera session in either case.

The PML-N leader also called on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday to apprise him about the dialogue with the PTI.

The senator urged the PTI to attend the meeting so that progress could be made on its demands for the formation of judicial commissions and the release of political prisoners.

He recalled that an agreement had been reached between the PTI and the government in which the government was given seven working days to share its response to the PTI demands with the NA speaker. “We have prepared our replies but will not make them public in case the PTI does not attend the meeting,” he added.

On the other hand, the PTI is not going to attend the meeting being held today, according to Omar Ayub, the opposition leader in the National Assembly.

However, the party later showed a little flexibility in its stance and said the opposition committee could attend the meeting if the government arranged a meeting of its members with ex-premier Imran Khan before January 28. However, any meeting did not materialise.

PM Shehbaz calls for ‘joint strategy’ with opposition for national issues

In a press release issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) after a meeting between the premier and Senator Siddiqui, PM Shehbaz expressed the desire that the talks between the government and the PTI should continue.

“These contacts help in preparing a joint strategy to resolve issues facing the country and nation,” he added. He said avoiding negotiations was an undemocratic attitude that created tensions and damaged the atmosphere of national solidarity.

The prime minister said Pakistan did not need agitation, tussles, and confrontation but harmony and understanding so that a joint strategy could be adopted for building the economy and eradicating terrorism.