The federal government has reiterated it will only respond to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) charter of demands during a scheduled meeting on Jan. 28, as the opposition party maintains negotiations cannot proceed without the formation of judicial commission into the May 9 and Nov. 26 incidents.
In multiple media interactions, PMLN Senator Irfan Siddiqui, a member of the ruling coalition’s negotiating committee, has stressed that a formal response will only be submitted after the expiry of seven working days since the last meeting on Jan. 16. The PTI, meanwhile, has waffled on its decision, with various leaders alternating between saying the talks are finished or they are “on pause” pending a positive response from the government.
PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan initially said the talks were cancelled on the instruction of former Prime Minister Imran Khan as the government had not formed the judicial commissions. He has since said they are “on hold” until the government forms the judicial commissions.
PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja, after a meeting with Imran Khan, said the PTI may reconsider talks with the government if its negotiating committee was allowed to meet the party founder at Adiala Jail. No such meeting has occurred thus far.
PTI spokesperson Sheikh Waqas Akram, meanwhile, has said there is no future for the talks and they are now finished. However, he has also suggested the decision might be revisited if the judicial commissions are formed.
Siddiqui has stressed the PTI should wait for the Jan. 28 meeting, and see the government’s response before unilaterally exiting the process. He has also recalled that it was the PTI that had sought to initiate the dialogue process and if it wished to disengage, it should formally inform the government of the reasons behind its decision.
The PTI and the ruling coalition have been engaged in talks aimed at achieving political stability since December 2024. They have thus far held three rounds of talks, with a fourth due tomorrow (Tuesday). Ahead of the talks, the PTI had imposed a Jan. 31 deadline for positive momentum, with Imran Khan stating that if there were no progress, he would proceed with a “civil disobedience” movement.