National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq chairs a meeting between government and opposition representatives at Parliament House in Islamabad. PHOTO: ONLINE
ISLAMABAD/LAHORE:
The country held its breath on Friday, as the government and the opposition were set to resume talks on Saturday (today) after failing to bridge major differences in a first round aimed at averting a planned Oct. 4 long march by the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI).
The meeting, chaired by NA Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq in his chamber, included representatives of the government, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the opposition.
The negotiations come amid continued tensions following PTI’s announcement of an Islamabad march. Although the protest was postponed from September 27 to October 4, the standoff between the federal and provincial governments remains unresolved.
According to the NA spokesperson, detailed discussions were held on the country’s political situation, with the government, PPP and opposition apprising each other of their respective positions. Various matters were discussed in detail and with patience, the spokesperson said.
The second round of negotiations will be held at 2pm on Saturday in the speaker’s chamber, the spokesperson added. The government and PPP stressed the need to resolve national issues with the opposition through negotiations.
According to the statement, the NA Speaker played a key role in facilitating negotiations between the government, PPP and the opposition.
Federal minister Amir Muqam, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Political and Public Affairs Rana Sanaullah, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry attended the meeting. Senator Sherry Rehman and NA members Naveed Qamar and Ijaz Hussain Jakhrani also participated.
Opposition leaders including PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, Senate Opposition Leader Allama Raja Nasir Abbas, Malik Amir Dogar and former National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser, as well as Salman Akram Raja, attended the meeting.
The delegations were welcomed by Speaker Sadiq upon their arrival. “I am only playing the role of a mediator,” he said.
Sadiq said his office was “always open” to resolving issues through negotiations and that he had consistently invited the opposition to engage in dialogue. He maintained that negotiations were the only way to resolve differences and issues, adding that positions and offices were temporary.
“Parliament is the only forum where solutions to issues can be found,” he said.
In an earlier post on X, the Tehreek-i-Tahafuz-Ayin-i-Pakistan said the opposition side was being led by the leader of the opposition in the Senate, Allama Raja Nasir Abbas.
According to sources, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi opened the talks by raising concerns over the law-and-order situation in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, including the performance of the provincial government and Chief Minister Sohail Afridi.
Naqvi blamed the provincial government for the security situation and recent attacks by the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Senate opposition leader Allama Raja Nasir Abbas rejected the government’s position, saying the opposition had come to discuss political issues, not terrorism, and that linking the two would not resolve the dispute.
Nasir Abbas also raised the arrests of lawmakers and restrictions on meetings with Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan. According to sources, he said the PTI leadership could not take major political decisions without consulting Khan.
He said a meeting between Mahmood Khan Achakzai and himself and Khan could help open a path toward resolving the political dispute. Pakistan Peoples Party leader Sherry Rehman asked whether such a meeting would guarantee a resolution.
Nasir Abbas said the opposition would take responsibility and that the situation would improve if a meeting with Khan took place.
The government team, meanwhile, made clear that it would not allow any advance on Islamabad. It said calls for a long march, threats or an attack on Adiala jail were unacceptable, adding that flexibility would be required from the opposition as well.
Tensions rose several times during the talks, according to sources. Rana Sanaullah and Nasir Abbas exchanged heated remarks over judicial matters.
Nasir Abbas voiced concerns over what he described as incomplete implementation of court orders and restrictions on meetings with Khan. Sanaullah responded that the courts were carrying out their functions and that court orders relating to any long march would be enforced.
National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq urged both sides to exercise restraint and seek a way forward through dialogue.
Speaking to the media after the meeting, PPP’s Rehman said the party believed in resolving issues through negotiations.
She said that PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari had stated the party’s stance on the long march and that the PTI had to call it off “unconditionally”.
“They will have to call it off rather than postponing or deferring,” she said.
“Both parties have time; we will meet tomorrow. We will try to conclude this by tomorrow,” she stated.
Talking about the opposition’s reported demand of facilitating a meeting with incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan, she said she could not answer the question. However, she said the opposition had asked for time and “we should respect it”.
“A political and democratic attitude requires sitting at the negotiation table and resolving the issues through dialogue,” she stated.
Meanwhile, the PTI rejected reports that negotiations between the government and the opposition in Islamabad were conditional on the party calling off its planned long march as sources familiar with the meeting said the two issues were discussed on parallel tracks.
The sources expressed frustration over “factually incorrect accounts of the talks”, particularly the claim that the government had made cancellation of the protest a condition for continuing the dialogue.
They said the government had asked PTI to call off the protest and had repeated its publicly stated position during the meeting, but maintained that the demand was not presented as a precondition for negotiations.
According to the sources, PTI’s position was that the dialogue should address the root causes that had led to the proposed protest. They said the party had conveyed its willingness to work with the government if there was seriousness about addressing those issues, but rejected the imposition of conditions before the dialogue could produce an understanding.
The sources said the government’s stance on calling off the protest was already publicly known and had also been voiced during the meeting. However, they stressed that the dialogue and the long march were being pursued on parallel tracks rather than one being made conditional on the other.
They also said participants had agreed to exercise discretion over matters discussed during the Islamabad meeting and that the only position to be formally communicated to the media would be through a joint statement once it had been finalised.
The sources expressed particular frustration over “inaccurate accounts” subsequently given to the media, specifically disputing a version attributed to Pakistan Peoples Party leader Sherry Rehman regarding the status of the long march.
They said the account that PTI had agreed, or had been asked as a condition of dialogue, to call off the protest did not accurately reflect what was discussed during the meeting.
TTAP spokesperson Akhundzada Hussain said the alliance had lodged a protest over a breach of the understanding regarding discretion on the proceedings, specifically over remarks attributed to Sherry Rehman.
He also maintained that the dialogue had not been made conditional on calling off the march.
It was later revealed that Sherry had sought to clarify her position to TTAP leaders, saying she had only reiterated her party’s position on the issue and had not made a specific demand during the meeting.
According to the sources, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi led much of the meeting, with his concerns focused primarily on security and administrative affairs in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Asked whether governor’s rule was discussed, the sources said it was among the issues raised during the meeting, but maintained that Naqvi’s broader focus was on the security situation and administration of the province.
The sources said the government’s concerns were repeatedly framed around the failure of the provincial administration to ensure peace, security and tranquillity in K-P.
According to them, the same narrative that had been advanced publicly before the meeting was reflected in the government’s position during the talks.
The PTI side, however, rejected that assessment and questioned the government’s suggestion that the provincial authorities were protecting or harbouring non-state actors.
The sources said PTI responded to Naqvi by arguing that if a government could not even protect its own ministers in a province it governed, it could hardly be accused of protecting non-state actors.
They said the PTI side maintained that the approach being taken towards K-P was misplaced and did not adequately reflect the situation on the ground.
However, according to the sources, PTI made clear that negotiations could not proceed on the basis of conditions imposed before the dialogue itself had produced an understanding.
The sources also expressed surprise over the PPP’s position during the meeting, saying the party appeared to have blindly supported the government’s stance while disregarding long-held positions for power politics.
According to the sources, PTI also raised the issue of Imran Khan’s sisters with PPP leader Sherry Rehman and asked her to take up his issue as well. The comment was met with silence.