Talks between Govt and PTI to begin today

ISLAMABAD: The government and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) have finally agreed on a date and time to begin the contentious negotiations, with talks between the two parties set to begin at 6 p.m. today in the Senate.

According to details, PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Barrister Ali Zafar, and senior leader Fawad Chaudhary will represent the PTI, while names for the ruling coalition have yet to be announced.

According to reports, the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) has decided to boycott the talks.

The development comes just hours after Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani sent separate letters to the House Leader and the Opposition requesting that members of both the Treasury and Opposition benches be nominated to form a special committee to hold political dialogue.

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The Senate chairman stated in the letter that both leaders, Senator Ishaq Dar and Dr Shahzad Waseem, are asked to provide the names of four members for the special committee within two days.

According to Sanjrani, the Senate of Pakistan, House of Federation, as a stabilising factor of the federation, is constitutionally tasked with protecting national and political harmony in relation to national and public interest.

“By assuming this responsibility and taking note that the Parliament is the right and the only forum for the resolution of political issues, given the prevailing political and economic situation, a committee comprising of members of the Senate belonging to both sides of the aisle has been proposed to address the ongoing political and economic crisis, including the holding of general elections,” he furthered.

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The 10-member special committee will be convened jointly by the leader of the house and the opposition, with four members from each side.

The development comes on the heels of Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial’s remarks that “courts cannot force political parties to hold negotiations,” emphasising that the apex court merely sought adherence to the Constitution and an end to the impasse over election delays.

The CJP’s remarks came earlier in the day, as the Supreme Court resumed hearing the case involving the delay in the Punjab elections.

Attorney General of Pakistan Mansoor Awan told the court that the Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani would form a committee comprising members from both sides of the aisle to evolve a consensus to hold elections of national and provincial assemblies on one date.

The three-judge bench suggested the political parties evolve consensus on one date for elections in the national interest, respect of the Constitution, and welfare of the people. “Otherwise,” the court feard, “things would stay the same”.

Last week, adopting a carrot and stick policy, the apex court had asked all political parties to evolve a consensus on the date for holding simultaneous general elections of the National Assembly and the four provincial assemblies expeditiously; otherwise, the court had noted, its order regarding the Punjab Assembly elections on May 14 would come into force.

A day earlier, addressing separate huddles of the parties in the ruling coalition, the PML-N parliamentary party and cabinet, the premier said elections were an issue that needed to be decided in parliament and the appropriate time to conduct them was either in October or November.