ISLAMABAD: Despite repeated requests by the ruling coalition, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Friday stuck to its guns of boycotting the fourth round of talks scheduled to be held on January 28.
A day ago, the PTI announced to boycott the crucial talks with the government as the jailed party founding chairman Imran Khan ordered to halt the parleys after the government failed to form judicial commissions to probe into the events of May 9, 2023 and November 28, 2024.
Speaking at a presser, PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan, along with other senior PTI leaders, reiterated that the party’s negotiation committee would not attend the fourth round of talks as the decision by Imran Khan is “final.”
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In a bid to pave the way to ensure political stability in the country, the PTI and the government had held three rounds of talks, with the PTI presenting its charter of demands, top of which was the formation of judicial commissions.
Despite weeks of negotiations, the dialogue process hardly moved forward on major issues – the formation of judicial commissions and the release of PTI prisoners, prompting the incarcerated party founding chairman to issue directives to halt the talks immediately.
This upset the government’s negotiation committee as Irfan Siddiqui, a member of the government’s negotiation team, appealed to the PTI to wait for some days as efforts are being made to meet its demands, but the latter remained upbeat.
Barrister, flanked by PTI leaders Omar Ayub Khan, Shibli Faraz, and Ali Mohammad Khan, said that Imran Khan had approved negotiations despite the long charge-sheet against him and the party.
“The stipulated days have passed, but the government has not announced the formation of judicial commissions even after the deadline passed on January 23,” he said, adding that the negotiations ended as the government was “not serious at any stage.”
“We presented them with simple demands during the negotiations. What was wrong with announcing the formation of a judicial commission,” he questioned.
Gohar explained that the PTI had made two specific demands, but no action had been taken to establish judicial commissions within the agreed seven-day timeframe.
“Imran Khan put the talks on hold, but the government could at least announce that the commission is in the works,” he said.
He emphasised that seven days were sufficient to announce the formation of the commission. Gohar stated that PTI might reconsider negotiations if the government moves forward with forming a commission to investigate the incidents of May 9 and November 28.
He added that Imran Khan had given a seven-day timeline for the announcement, which he argued was sufficient to demonstrate the government’s sincerity.
“The lack of progress exposes their true intentions,” Gohar said, reiterating PTI’s willingness to engage in talks with an open heart.
Other PTI leaders also said that the decision taken by Imran Khan to halt the talks is final and no other leaders can proceed with the talks, adding the PTI had made it crystal clear to the government from the day-one that there will be no talks if judicial commissions are not formed.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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