PTI seeks more time to present ‘final list of demands’ in next meeting

ISLAMABAD: The second round of talks between the federal government and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) ended up with PTI seeking more time to present its “charter of demands” in writing before the next meeting.

The in-camera meeting of committees representing the government and opposition held under the chair of National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq at the Parliament House on Thursday.

The meeting followed the December 23 talks between the both sides and aimed at continuing dialogue to ease political tensions in the country. The PTI was supposed to present its demands in writing, as the first round of talks reportedly ended on a positive note.

However, instead of putting its charter of demands, the PTI requested the government to grant more time for holding consultation with its founder Imran Khan for finalizing the demands.

From the PTI, Omar Ayub, Asad Qaiser, Ali Amin Gandapur, Salman Akram, Allama Raja Nasir Abbas, and Sahibzada Hamid Raza were in attendance.

Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, Rana Sanaullah, Farooq Sattar, Aleem Khan, and Irfan Siddiqui represented the government whereas Naveed Qamar, Raja Pervaiz, Khalid Magsi, and Ijaz-ul-Haq were also present.

Addressing a press conference after the meeting, Ayaz Sadiq said that today’s talks were held in “an even more cordial atmosphere than previously.”

Regarding the next round of the talks, he said that the third round will hopefully be held next week.

Although he was slightly disappointed that the PTI did not come up with its demands in writing as decided in the previous meeting, he hailed today’s talks, saying: “The most beautiful result of all this was that everyone decided to sit down and talk on Pakistan’s betterment, whether about the economy, terrorism or any other issue.”

After that spokesperson of the government’s negotiation committee read out the joint statement loudly before the media, saying that the opposition voiced two demands: the release of under-trial political prisoners and the formation of a judicial commission to investigate the events of May 9 and November 26, 2023.

The PTI also requested for arranging a meeting with Imran Khan at Adiala Jail so that it could finalize a conclusive charter of demands in consultation with its founder, he added.

Siddiqui also said that the PTI promised to present the final charter of demands in writing in the next round of talks.

According to him, Ishaq Dar informed the PTI that “the government had no issue with the opposition committee meeting Imran for consultation on demands”.

Earlier, sources suggested that Imran Khan is unwilling to be placed under house arrest and wants to serve his sentence in jail. Moreover, Khan is still insistent on the civil disobedience move and has asked his sister to reach out to Pakistanis in the UK and tell them to stop sending remittances to Pakistan.