[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text dp_text_size=”size-4″]ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari met with PDM President Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Wednesday to try to reach an agreement among the ruling coalition on holding talks with the opposition PTI.
According to sources familiar with the talks in Dera Ismail Khan, Fazl refused to meet with PTI Chairman Imran Khan, claiming that such meetings would be fruitless. He did, however, request time from the PPP chairman to consult with his party on the matter.
Bilawal, along with a delegation that included Qamar Zaman Kaira and Faisal Karim Kundi, expressed condolences on Mufti Abdul Shakoor’s death. Later, he delivered to Fazl a special message from former President Asif Zardari.
According to the sources, Bilawal stressed the need for holding negotiations with the PTI. They added that Fazl refrained from giving an immediate answer and expressed his lack of trust in Imran Khan.
“He [Fazl] questioned who would guarantee that Imran would not renege on his promises,” a source quoted Fazl as telling Bilawal. Fazl said that the PTI had destroyed Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa during its 10-year rule in the province.
Also Read: PDM divided over holding talks with PTI?
Bilawal replied that the doors of negotiations should always be kept open in politics, stressing that talks were the “solution to all crises in a democracy”. He impressed upon Fazl to reconsider his stance.
On Bilawal’s insistence, Fazl sought time for consultation with his party, the JUI-F. He “promised” to inform Bilawal about his decision after consulting with the party, according to the sources.
According to the sources, the two leaders agreed that resolving the country’s current crises through political dialogue would be “unanimous.” According to the sources, a meeting of the coalition parties will be held after Eidul Fitr.
The meeting emphasised the importance of long-term democracy and the institutions’ positive constitutional role. The country’s geopolitical situation, particularly the challenges it faces on both internal and external fronts, was also discussed.
Also Read: JI Chief steps in to break the political deadlock.
Furthermore, the PDM government’s performance over the last year, as well as the steps taken to repair the damage done to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and the Gwadar port projects during the PTI, were scrutinised.
The meeting between Bilawal and Fazl came a day after a meeting of government allies at the Prime Minister’s House the day before ended without agreement on the issue of holding talks with the PTI.
Bilawal led a three-member PPP delegation to his meeting with Fazl. Qamar Zaman Kaira and Faisal Karim Kundi were among the delegation’s members. Bilawal later met with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and informed him of his discussions with Fazl.
The ongoing political and legal impasse was exacerbated in January this year when the PTI chairman dissolved both the Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa assemblies in an attempt to force the incumbent government to hold early elections.
The coalition government, on the other hand, has been hesitant to give in to Imran’s demand. To find a way out of the crisis, the PPP has proposed that the coalition hold elections talks with the PTI.
Also Read: Govt appears to be abandoning talks with the PTI.
During the meeting at Prime Minister House, Bilawal insisted on holding the political dialogue, stating that closing the doors to dialogue was not only against his party’s principles, but also undemocratic and non-political.
According to sources close to the situation, the MQM-P, BNP-M, BAP’s Khalid Magsi, PML-Q’s Chaudhry Salik Hussain, NDM’s Mohsin Dawar, and others backed Bilawal’s stance.
The JUI-F, on the other hand, opposed the talks with the PTI, claiming that Imran Khan was not a “political force.” The Jamhoori Watan Party’s Shahzain Bugti stated that while he was not opposed to dialogue, Imran could not be trusted.
Soon after the media began reporting on the positions of various parties in the ruling coalition’s meeting, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb issued a statement refuting all such “sources-based speculations” in the media.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
