• The conversations committee will dissolve, the response to the demands will not be shared, Siddiqui warns
• Inflexible party will not attend Huddle, promises to support journalists in the PCA settings
• The prime minister wants the conversations to continue, he says that avoiding dialogue is ‘antidemocratic’
Islamabad: After the PTI seemed not to be humorous to join the negotiations that are carried out to calm the political tensions, the spokesman of the Government Committee, Senator Irfan Siddiqui, said on Monday that his committee would dissolve if PTI He did not attend the fourth round of conversations scheduled for today (Tuesday).
According to the senator, the PTI lawsuit response would not be made public in case the opposition party was skipped. However, the Government Committee will attend the session in the Chamber in any case. The meeting convened by the president of the National Assembly, Ayaz Sadiq, will take place at the House of Parliament at 11:45 am
The PML-N senator also asked Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday to inform him about dialogue with the PTI. “I informed the prime minister that we are ready for conversations, but the PTI is reluctant to sit at today’s meeting,” said the senator.
The PML-N leader urged the PTI to attend the meeting so that progress could be made on their demands for the formation of judicial commissions and the liberation of political prisoners. “They (PTI) should attend the meeting because, in the case of any reservation in the government’s response, we could discuss moving towards the fulfillment of their demands (PTI),” he added.
He recalled that an agreement had been reached between the PTI and the government in which the Government received seven business days to share its response to PTI’s demands with the president of NA. “We have prepared our answers, but we will not make them public in case the PTI does not attend the meeting,” he added.
In a press release issued by Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) after a meeting between Prime Minister and Committee spokesman, Prime Minister Shehbaz wanted the conversations between the Government and the PTI to continue.
“These contacts help prepare a joint strategy to solve problems facing the country and the nation,” he added. He said that avoiding negotiations was an antidemocratic attitude that created tensions and damaged the atmosphere of national solidarity. The prime minister said that Pakistan did not need agitation, fights and confrontation, but harmony and understanding, so that a joint strategy could be adopted to build the economy and eradicate terrorism.
PTI not to attend
On the other hand, the PTI is not going to attend the meeting held today, according to Omar Ayub, the opposition leader in the National Assembly.
The party had previously participated in the meeting conditioned to the formation of judicial commissions to investigate the incidents of November 9 and 26.
However, he later showed some flexibility in his position and announced that the committee could attend the meeting if the government organized a meeting of its members with Imran Khan before January 28. However, the meeting had not materialized when this report went. To print.
The PTI left the negotiations a couple of days after the government did not respond to its demand for the formation of judicial commissions to investigate the protests of May 9, 2023 and on November 26, 2024 that the party had celebrated for the Liberation of its imprisoned founder Imran Kan.
Meanwhile, the PTI has decided to support the community of journalists on controversial amendments to the Law on the Prevention of Electronic Crimes recently ran by the National Assembly.
A delegation of the Anchorpersons met with the president of PTI, Barríster Gohar Ali Khan, and the former president of the National Assembly Asad Qaiser to discuss these amendments. Mr. Gohaha said that the PTI would support the media and would not support the controversial amendments.
“There are a number of failures in the amendments and are also against basic human rights,” he said.
Posted in Dawn, January 28, 2025