The second round of talks between the ruling alliance and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) concluded on Friday with both sides agreeing to consult with their respective leaderships before re-convening for a “final” round on May 2 (Tuesday).
The government and the opposition are conducting dialogue in a bid to end an impasse over elections in Punjab, which has triggered political uncertainty that has been blamed for boosting an economic crisis. During proceedings in a case seeking simultaneous elections nationwide, the Supreme Court urged all political parties to negotiate and resolve the situation through dialogue, warning that its order for polls in Punjab to be conducted on May 14 would remain in force if a resolution could not be achieved.
The two sides held their first round of talks on Thursday, during which the PTI presented its demands, calling for speedy dissolution of all assemblies and polls no later than August. The party also said that the delay to the polls in Punjab and KP should be granted legal cover through a constitutional amendment and sought the return of their resigned lawmakers to the National Assembly to achieve this. In the second round, the government presented its own proposals, reportedly to conduct polls in September to allow for the presentation of the upcoming fiscal year’s budget.
Speaking with journalists after the meeting, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said there had been some progress in the talks as both sides had shared proposals to resolve the crisis with each other. “There is no deadlock in the talks,” he said to a question on whether the talks were expected to fail. “The PTI and the government’s committees will meet on Tuesday at 11 a.m.,” he said, explaining that the three-day gap was required to ensure all stakeholders could be consulted.
PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi similarly told journalists that he believed there had been “reasonable” progress during the second round of talks. He said he would inform the party chairman of the government’s proposals during a meeting in Lahore.
However, PTI Senior Vice President Chaudhry Fawad Hussain warned that while the talks were held in a “positive atmosphere,” they could be derailed if arrests of PTI workers did not stop. “The arrests will destroy the negotiation process. Ali Amin Gandapur has still not been released despite him securing bail in all his cases,” he said, adding that the government had said it was not behind the arrests. However, he stressed, whoever was behind them was hurting the negotiation process.