AS expected, the fourth round of talks between the government and the opposition PTI could not materialize due to absence of the latter which persisted with its stand not to hold further negotiations due to non-acceptance of its demand regarding formation of judicial commissions on May 09 and November 26 events. This prompted PML(N) Senator Irfan Siddiqui, the spokesperson of the government negotiating team, to conclude that the dialogue process is practically over due to the boycott of the PTI.
This is, indeed, an unfortunate development as tension is mounting due to the end of the negotiations and political rhetoric by the two sides. However, it augurs well that the Government Committee has not been dissolved as had been warned by its spokesperson a few days back. Both Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq and Irfan Siddiqui affirmed that the Government Committee was intact and their doors were open for the PTI. This effectively means that the end of the process is one-sided and talks could resume the moment the opposition decides to sit across the negotiating table. The Government Committee did meet on the scheduled date i.e. January 28 but understandably it opted not to divulge details about the response to the charter of demands submitted by the PTI. The remarks made by the spokesperson of the Government Committee also indicated that they were ready to resume the dialogue any time. Siddiqui said that the government took this process
forward with a lot of patience as the other side called for civil disobedience and did very scary tweets that included attacks on the defence forces, the prime minister was abused but we tolerated that, adding that the onus was on the other side now to approach the Speaker to restart the process. He also indicated that the response has been finalized by the Government Committee after two-three meetings and in consultation with lawyers and impartial legal experts (to assess how much space can be given to the PTI). This was also confirmed by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Ishaq Dar who said that the government had come to the meeting with an answer to the PTI’s demands.
In this backdrop, it would have been advisable for the PTI to attend the meeting, get a response from the government and give its own reaction after internal deliberations. As against this, founding chairman of the party Imran Khan, in a post on X said the government was avoiding the formation of judicial commissions and that the PTI could not move forward without action on this demand. He added that the establishment of a commission to investigate these incidents is inevitable and the failure to form a commission is a sign of the governments deceit. The mood and the future strategy of the PTI was also reflected in terse remarks made by newly elected Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee and President KP Chapter of the PTI Junaid Akbar who hinted that the party was again shifting to the agitation mode. He also described doves of the party as homeopathic leadership, which, he said, will be sidelined during the election of the PTI in May. The party has already announced plans to hold country-wide protests on February 8 on completion of the first year of general elections which are viewed by the PTI as rigged. It is, however, satisfying that the government has opted not to get provoked and instead it still urges the PTI to return to the process of dialogue. Agitation and violence has so far not helped in any manner to any side and therefore, resumption of the dialogue is the only answer to the complicated political scenario of the country.
