A meeting of the ruling coalition on Wednesday decided to re-convene with the heads of all component parties after Eidul Fitr to advance the consultation process with political stakeholders inside and outside Parliament.
Chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at Prime Minister’s House, the meeting reviewed the country’s prevailing crises and deliberated on future strategies to resolve persistent constitutional and legal issues. According to an official statement, the parties noted that discussions on the conduct of general elections was ongoing and the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) had already formed a two-member committee to advance the process.
“As politicians, we have never closed the door of dialogue to anyone, nor can any democrat do so. At every stage since the presentation of the economic pact, the coalition government has expressed its willingness to engage in meaningful, serious and constitutionally-bounded negotiations,” read the statement, citing the meeting’s participants. “From offering the Charter of Economy at every stage until now, the coalition government has expressed willingness for serious, meaningful and within Constitution talks,” it said. “Ensuring free, fair and transparent elections is fundamental to the Constitution,” it added.
The Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) has offered to host the dialogue between the government and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), noting that only political stakeholders can resolve political crises. However, there are divisions within the government over whether to proceed to dialogue with Imran Khan’s party, with one group—led by the Pakistan Peoples Party—advocating talks, while another—led by the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazl)—has rejected it, maintaining that the ousted prime minister cannot be trusted.
In a bid to resolve the impasse, Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari visited JUIF chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who also heads the Pakistan Democratic Movement alliance, to discuss the prevailing political situation. “I am optimistic that party heads’ meeting after Eid will make positive progress,” Bhutto-Zardari wrote on Twitter after the meeting. “The issues of one-day election across the country [and] modalities for dialogue with opposition will be finalized by then IA,” he added.