ISLAMABAD: The stage is set for tempering down expectations of an imminent outcome of the negotiations between the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz-led (PML-N) team and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) as the third round of talks are scheduled to begin today (Thursday).
Rana Sanaullah Khan and Irfan Siddiqui, PML-N members of the negotiating team, have indicated that it will require time to consider PTI demands, as it would require consultations with their senior leadership, coalition partners and all relevant stakeholders.
“We will also consult with our lawyers and then give our reaction to the demands of the PTI,” Siddiqui stated.
The PTI has already toned down its demands to two in appreciation of the existing ground realities - release of its detained workers and the formation of a judicial commission to investigate May 9 and November 26 incidents.
Chairman PTI Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said that his party would formally submit its two demands in writing to the government’s negotiation team today (Thursday).
“If the government engages with sincerity and seriousness, solutions to these issues can be found. Democracy and political stability require the release and relief of political prisoners [....] we hope this process will conclude soon and bring good news,” he added. The party, which finally secured a meeting with Imran Khan and got his approval to continue talks with the government, warned that a fourth round of talks was unlikely if a judicial commission was not formed after the third negotiation session. Senior PTI members have publicly stated that negotiations will end by January 31 if their demands remain unmet.
Irfan Siddiqui, the spokesperson for the government’s negotiation committee, said the government committee will not be dissolved on January 31 and will continue to work beyond the deadline set by PTI negotiators. “The PTI has a lot of demands. For the time being, we have no demands from the PTI. Therefore, we need some time as nothing can be done immediately,” he continued.
“For us, the success of the negotiations is more important than ending it on a certain date. The PTI is free to make its own decision and is not subject to any pressure,” he added. Irfan Siddiqui and Rana Sanullah, as well as other PML-N leaders, have publicly stated that verbal abuse hurled at the prime minister and chief of army staff on social media network X by the PTI is not conducive to an environment for negotiations – a statement that has all the hallmarks of a demand, said a PTI leader requesting not to be named.
“Threatening us with an end to negotiations is not going to change our position, especially if, as we reckon, the US President Elect Donald Trump’s attention remains mired in multiple domestic and international issues facing the country,” said a senior PML-N leader on condition of anonymity.
Former prime minister and senior leader of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Raja Parvez Ashraf stated that the party wants the government-PTI dialogue to be successful even if it requires “some sacrifice.” Ashraf, who is also a member of the government’s negotiation committee, said the situation will be clear once the PTI submits its demands in writing. He said President Asif Ali Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari have instructed their members to “remain positive” and make all efforts to make the dialogue successful. “We are ready to make sacrifices for national unity. We have done that in the past. We have sacrificed votes and lost seats in parliament in the process. Our aim is peace and stability,” he maintained.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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