ISLAMABAD: The government and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf are going to resume talks today (Tuesday) after a three-day break, which is being termed as D-Day for the fate of talks.
The time of the meeting has been rescheduled as earlier it was to be held at 11 am but now it will be held at 9 pm. Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani announced on Monday that ‘after the mutual consent of the government and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf, the time of the talks has been changed and now the talks will be held at 9 pm instead of 11 am’. Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani, who facilitated the negotiations in the Senate Secretariat, said that the time was changed due to the engagement of members of the government and PTI negotiation committees. The government team includes former Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani, Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar, Law Minister Senator Azam Nazir Tarr, Railway Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique, Commerce Minister Naveed Qamar, National Food Security and Research Minister Tariq Bashir Cheema and Kishore Khan. . Zahra while the PTI delegation includes Vice Chairman PTI Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Senator Ali Zafar and Fawad Chaudhry.
However, after the second round of talks, the two negotiating teams indicated a positive response, saying that they are slowly moving forward on the big question of holding nationwide elections on the same day. It remains to be seen how the two will use their strong public currencies to accommodate each other to achieve this agreement. The election date is still missing. According to sources, the PTI wanted the election date to be announced before the budget, while the government insisted on a later date. The closed-door meetings took place in a cordial atmosphere, but the fate of the talks remains in doubt and both sides seem to have prepared their political strategies for any scenario.
Supporters of both the government and PTI were also making aggressive statements as Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif opposed talks with PTI saying talks with Imran Khan were futile. Federal Minister Javed Latif’s remarks also added to the boiling situation. He told the media that “negotiating with a terrorist group under pressure is like compromising on the defense of Pakistan”. On the other hand, PTI’s senior leader and former Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry has also warned of launching an anti-government movement if the talks fail. Similarly, while addressing his rally in Lahore, Chairman PTI Imran Khan said that if the assemblies are dissolved before May 14, then they are ready for simultaneous elections and this is his stand in the talks on Tuesday.
