‘Govt to announce committee for holding talks with PTI next week’

ISLAMABAD: Adviser to the Prime Minister on Law and Justice Barrister Aqeel Malik on Friday revealed that the government would soon announce a negotiation committee for holding talks with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

Speaking at a Dawn TV’s talk show, he confirmed that the prime minister would announce the committee in the coming week.

The barrister clarified the government has been awaiting the return of the PM from the D-8 Summit. Meanwhile, he added, consultation with the government allies is in progress over the committee members as it would significantly impact the decision making regarding talks with the PTI.

Read More: Govt, JUI-F reach ‘agreement’ on madrasa bill, Fazl optimistic about good news 

The PM’s aide was of the view that the committee could be announced by tomorrow (Saturday) as the PM has already returned. In other case, he said, the announcement would surely be made before the next week ends.

He added that members for the proposed committee have yet not been finalized, however, the senior members from government allies would be included into the committee.

He clarified that the National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq is ready to chair the negotiation for both sides (PTI and the government). “I think it would be better for the committees to formulate agendas and conditions inside the speaker chamber,” he added.

When asked about PTI’s threat of launching civil disobedience campaign, the advisor said they cannot threaten the government on one hand and invite it for negotiations on the other. To this, he added, if the negotiation is the aim then all such points should be included into the agenda.

Meanwhile, the government and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) have finally reached an ‘agreement’ on the contentious Madrasah Registration Bill. A notification in this regard would be issued soon.

The breakthrough came during a meeting between JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at the Prime Minister’s House.