Govt, PTI at pains to deny talks under way amid icebreaker contact

ISLAMABAD: The embattled Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) reached out to the government on Wednesday for dialogue ahead of its proposed civil disobedience movement. However, despite day-long efforts, the opposition party could not persuade the government to hold talks.

Senior PTI leaders Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and Omar Ayub Khan met the National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq at the Speaker’s House. Sunni Ittehad Council chief Sahibzada Hamid Raza and Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Nazir Tarar were also present, Geo News reported.

PTI social media supporters had linked the arrival of its leaders at the Speaker’s House, after the prime minister’s meeting with the speaker, to talks. Sources said that Speaker Ayaz Sadiq had earlier met PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja and former NA Speaker Asad Qaiser. However, Ayaz Sadiq denied having any conversation on holding a dialogue. “The PTI leaders came to me for condolences. There was nothing more than that,” he said.

Legal adviser Barrister Aqeel Malik made it clear that no talks were being held with the PTI at any level. PTI Secretary Information Sheikh Waqas Akram also downplayed the dialogue, saying: “Informal discussion does not mean that negotiations have begun.” Formal talks between the government and PTI have not begun, he added.

Meanwhile, in an emotional speech in the National Assembly, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan asked the government to let the dust of May 09 incidents settle, face realities and move forward. “Enough is enough. Dust of May 09 should now settle. Face the reality and move forward for improvement,” Gohar said.

However, he said that those responsible for the May 9 and November 26 incidents should be brought to justice. He said if the government did not want to form a commission, then it should let the May 9 dust settle.

He said that on his request, the PTI founder constituted a negotiating committee but it was considered as PTI leadership’s weakness. He said the negotiating committee was formed so that the third force could not occupy democracy and parliament.

He also demanded of the chair to convene immediate meeting of the Special Committee of Parliament headed by Syed Khursheed Shah. “We formed this committee so that remedy of all wrongs done in the past is found,” he added.

Barrister Gohar called upon the government and the chair that they wanted to get justice from parliament, requesting that they should not be compelled to come to roads again.

He said that it was the beauty of democracy that parliamentarians protest inside the parliament, civil servants in their offices, while people register their protest on roads, but there is no concept of firing live bullets on peaceful protesters, asking the government to learn from the fate of Hasina Wajid.

He said that recently the Indian parliament was stormed and parliament buildings of Canada, Brazil and Sri Lanka were invaded but live bullets were not fired on protesters. “Whether any bullet was fired on 5,000 protestors when they entered the parliament in South Korea,” he questioned.

Giving another example, he recalled that the Capitol Hill was also stormed by protesters and vice president, speaker and senators were taken to safer places but no bullets were fired on protesters despite the fact they ransacked many historical artifacts.

But he regretted that 12 protesters were killed with live bullets in the PTI protest near the Parliament House building in Islamabad, adding the nation would hold the present government accountable for its misdeeds. “There should be some remorse, regret and apology for the killing of protesters,” he said.

Addressing Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, the PTI chairman said that there was no truth in claims of the minister that no bullets were fired. He also said that none of PTI protesters was armed with weapons which the government was claiming were used by them.

Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Omar Ayub Khan challenged the government’s claims of economic growth and reduction in inflation rate saying the national economy was under stress. He said that contrary to claims of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the inflation rate was not coming down. “There is no truth in their claims about economic growth and reduction in inflation rate, rather it is on the rise,” he said.

He recalled that at meeting of the finance committee held on September 17 this year, before the government approached the IMF, he told the participants that the government’s assumptions were not based on facts and no targets would be met.

He said that there had been revenue suppression and targets were not being met and on the other hand there was current account deficit. “You have restricted imports and exports are not increasing,” he said. He said that new jobs could not be created unless large-scale manufacturing in the country was increased.

He said the prime minister and his cabinet members had been visiting China and other countries but no foreign investment could be attracted, as it comes only when there is rule of law in the country. “A former prime minister is kept in jail without any evidence and opposition leaders in the National Assembly and Senate and other PTI leaders are arrested with no reasons and bullets are fired on peaceful protesters,” he said.

The leader of the opposition demanded the chair that an immediate meeting of the special committee should be convened to address their grievances.

Meanwhile, Deputy Speaker Ghulam Mustafa Shah, who was in the chair, in response to a point raised by Syed Naveed Qamar, said a letter would be written to the prime minister apprising him of the absence of cabinet members when their business is taken up in the House.

PPP MNA Naveed Qamar regretted the absence of cabinet members from the House during the Question-Hour. “Parliamentary secretaries responded to questions as no minister was there in House,” he said.

He sought a ruling from chair that ministers should be present in the House to take care of business related to their ministries. “Have the ministers outsourced their assembly’s duties to the parliamentary secretaries,” he wondered.

Minister for Law and Justice Senator Azam Nazir Tarar, who also holds the portfolio of Parliamentary Affairs, said that the prime minister had also given categorical instruction at the cabinet meeting that ministers should ensure their presence in the National Assembly to handle the business related to their ministries.

However, he said sometimes ministers could not attend the assembly’s proceedings due to pressing engagements while rules of business provide the ministers of state and parliamentary secretaries could also take care of business in place of the ministers concerned.

The minister, while responding to points raised by the opposition leader, said that he was not an economist but he would say that it was a fact that the inflation rate had come down to the single digit, and as a result the policy rate was also reduced from 23 percent to 15 percent. “Experts are now saying that the situation will improve further,” he said.

He requested the opposition to appreciate the good work being done by the government.

The law minister told the House that there had been a record increase in remittances and also admitted that it was due to Roshan Digital Account which was introduced by the PTI government. “We should appreciate good work done by any government but the present government’s policies also resulted in an increase in remittances,” he said.

Azam Tarar appreciated the opposition leader for taking up issues on the floor of the National Assembly instead of opting for protest on roads.

PTI MNA Sher Afzal Marwat said that there could be no compensation for killing of the PTI protesters in Islamabad, alleging that Pakhtun people working in the federal capital were being arrested and implicated in fake cases.

He said that most of PTI parliamentarians sitting in the House had been named in 15 FIRs containing bogus charges relating to the November 26 protest.

He said that a committee should be formed to ascertain the facts regarding PTI parliamentarians implicated in fake cases. “We do not want any relief but fake cases should be done away with,” Marwat added.

Later, talking to the media outside the Parliament House, Omar Ayub Khan held Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif accountable for the “blood of their martyrs and of the Model Town”.

He contended that 12 PTI workers were killed while more than 200 are missing, whereas weapons provided by Nato forces were used at the D-Chowk. He said that Bushra Bibi, Ali Amin Gandapur, he and everyone were attacked many times, and that they left after the D-Chowk was cleared.

Omar Ayub noted that Khawaja Asif had nothing to say except personal attacks, adding the government did not answer the question of firing. “The blood of our martyrs is on Shehbaz Sharif and he is responsible for the Model Town tragedy,” he alleged.

“Hassan Niazi and other people present in the military trial should be released. The defence minister made a joke of the issue instead of expressing seriousness on the floor of the assembly,” he charged.

The leader of the opposition demanded that PTI founder chairman Imran Khan, Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi and other leaders should be released, while a judicial commission should be formed regarding May 9 and November 26 incidents.

Meanwhile, Sunni Ittehad Council chief Sahibzada Hamid Raza expressed the hope for talks between the PTI and the government, while describing the charge sheet against Faiz Hameed as an internal matter of the army. He said they (military) know and understand their system, adding that Imran Khan would not go to the military court.

He pointed out that the PTI’s five-member committee had the mandate for talks, adding: “Whoever wants to talk can contact us.” He added that as far as progress regarding the talks was concerned, hopefully there would be a meeting today. “If the government had come up with something workable earlier, we were ready to discuss it, we are still ready,” he maintained.

He emphasized that those who laid the foundation of the politics of money and bribery should be held accountable, claiming that the civil disobedience movement would be a success.

Talking to reporters outside the Parliament House, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said that Bushra Bibi stands with the PTI, adding that she had no connection with Toshakhana and she was being linked to the case to put pressure on her.

When asked about negotiations with the government, he said that talks were not starting but they (PTI) were trying to start negotiations and reach some solution. He also said the government had not made any contact for negotiations with his party.

PTI leader and senior lawyer Babar Awan said that Senator Ijaz Chaudhry was a representative of a province in the Senate, who has been kept in custody for one and a half years, whereas when Shehbaz Sharif was accused of Rs14 billion corruption, he was produced here despite being on physical remand.

Meanwhile, the 344th session of the Senate witnessed a desire for reconciliation and dialogue by the treasury and opposition amid an exchange of accusations of stealing mandate in 2024 and 2018 elections. After the Question-Hour and disposing of brief agenda, as agreed during the Senate House Business Advisory Committee meeting, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Syed Shibli Faraz opened the debate on the recent PTI protest and related developments but adopted a reconciliatory tone.

He wondered how would there be economic recovery and end to flight of people abroad if there would be no rule of law and freedom of expression stymied, alleging that bullets were fired directly on the peaceful PTI protestors which claimed the lives of at least 13 protesters and left many others injured.

Shibli claimed that whereabouts of over 200 PTI activists were unknown, as to whether or not they are alive, adding over 5,000 of his party workers were behind the bars. He also regretted the claim by some key ministers that there were no fatalities in the operation, adding that it was not factually correct.

He said his party stood for supremacy of the law and the Constitution but insisted that democracy comes from democratic attitudes. He quoted NAB figures that 1.2 million people had left the country and said there was a need to ponder over why people in huge numbers had said goodbye to Pakistan. Backsliding of democracy, he emphasised, had been witnessed as some people gave preference to power, ignoring the fundamental prerequisites of a true democracy, including free and fair elections.

He repeated the party’s demand and called for the formation of a judicial commission comprising three senior-most judges of the Supreme Court to probe May 9 and November 26 events and come up with facts. He rejected outright the allegations that the PTI protesters were violent and that there were foreigners as well among them, challenging the government to bring forth CCTV footage as evidence, if they had any.

He stressed that political differences must not be turned into personal enmity and declared that his party would continue its political struggle and protests within the ambit of Constitution.

Responding to Shibli’s speech, Leader of the House in the Senate and Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar endorsed his call for dialogue and said he was a believer in reconciliation. He called for unity across the political spectrum and proposed to the PTI to mutually thrash out some points to collectively pull the country of the quagmire and firstly ensure stability to take Pakistan out of the economic vortex.

He spoke about how vital was the country’s defence and referred to what had happened in Iraq, Yemen, Sudan and most recently in Syria. He emphasized that the Charter of Democracy had ensured success of democracy for 10 years and it was not an old document. “But things won’t work if you say that what you say is acceptable to you. We shall have to find a middle way,” he remarked.

Dar urged the PTI that what its supporters abroad were doing or getting done was undesirable, like putting images of heads of security agencies on hired vans, and added that these vans could be hired by anyone. “Please don’t do it.” He pointed out that while the defence minister was travelling in England, he was threatened with a knife. He also urged for not misleading the diaspora about the number of deaths, as they had no idea how many had in fact died in the recent protest -- one hundred or only two. “This will not help anyone,” he contended.

The leader of the house said that unfortunately it was very wrong to get down to personal matters in our politics. If there is any doubt about the February 8 election, the courts would decide it. He added if, according to the PTI, legal procedures were adopted in 2018, then the courts are still following the same procedure.

About Shibli’s concern over under-presentation of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the Senate, he said the non-election of 11 senators from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is regrettable but has the government stopped the elections? “I will welcome more senators and whatever help is needed for this will be provided. But had not the 2018 polls impacted the Senate elections also,” he asked.

He said the PMLN did not have the authority to hold elections and that his party jointly endorsed the PTI nominee besides the chief election commissioner and then the ECP secretary.

Referring to the PTI protest, he said, “We have not learnt from the past, issues are not resolved through aggression, peaceful protest is everyone’s constitutional right but using government resources is not allowed.” He charged that none could prove that this government had summoned and directed someone to file cases against the rivals but it is known to all how NAB chairman used to be called and directed to file cases and how Bashir Memon was summoned and asked to file cases against Khawaja Asif. “To the contrary, I can definitely say that the government did not file a political case against anyone,” he maintained.

Dar said that peaceful protest is the right of everyone, a law was passed by both houses on rallies and meetings in the federal capital. The Islamabad High Court also said that there should be no rallies and called Islamabad a red zone. Then, Dar asked, “Shouldn’t we respect everyone? Where the law gives relief, you are happy and when a decision comes against you, you are not ready to accept it. No contempt of court notice was issued as a result of the PTI protest, whereas this whole matter falls within the scope of contempt.”

Dar said that more than three dozen people detained during the protest were Afghans. “This is our country, we have to find a way out. All the red lines were crossed on May 9. Today even a conciliator like me cannot do anything until their decision is made. On November 24, I was hoping that something would improve and I would be able to play a role but you did another May 9.”

The minister said according to the briefing given to the government, neither live ammunition was allowed nor there was direct firing, and that there was aerial firing and the mess was created when the PTI leadership fled. He said that as per the information shared with them, the police was in the front, followed by the Rangers and then the army personnel were deployed under Article 245 for safeguarding strategic buildings, etc.

He said that in the PTI protest, there was a row of 100-150 armed persons, followed by their leadership and over three dozen foreigners were also part of it, who were detained and are in jail. “You martyred four Rangers personnel and 3 police personnel during the protest, 232 people are injured, of which about 57 belong to the Islamabad Police and the rest are from the Punjab government, dozens of them are in critical condition,” he noted.

A top official on a very important duty was hit in the head by a glass marble thrown through a slingshot, he said. He contended that if Shibli wished, he would request the institutions to bring forward the names of external elements who had participated in the protest. More than three dozen people have told how much money they were paid to be here.

Separately, reacting to the remarks of Barrister Gohar, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar criticised the PTI for propagating a fake narrative on “an onslaught on Islamabad” on November 26. The minister said the ‘Tehreek-e-Inteshar’ was propagating fake narrative on firing on the protesters by law enforcement agencies.

He asked the PTI to bring forth the evidence if any incident of direct firing took place on the night of 26 November. He said the PTI was looking for face-saving after their leaders and workers abandoned the protest. The minister called them “miscreants” who had invaded Islamabad on November 26 and were “armed with sling shots, shells and firearms”.

Tarar asked how the perpetrators of May 9 could ask for an end to discussion on the tragedy.

Later, talking in Geo News show ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath’, Atta Tarar said that no formal talks have been initiated with the PTI. “It’s our stance that the state was attacked on November 26. There was an attempt to sabotage the visit of President of Belarus. Four LEA personnel were killed and more than 200 wounded. False narrative is being created to defame the state. They want to escape from political failure,” he said.

He said the PTI did not provide any evidence of the deaths in November 26 protests. The party was offered the location of Sangjani, and told that they cannot come to the Red Zone at D-Chowk. He said that there was evidence of what the PTI did.

“Who will give guarantee for the PTI with regard to the talks and who will trust it? Why is there a demand for a judicial commission on May 9? No contact has been established with the PTI. Negotiations with the committee have not started. These people should first express their shame for the May 9 and November 26,” he added.

He said that the majority of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa cabinet has said that the call for civil disobedience is wrong. It should not be implemented. “Would the talks be held with Bushra Bibi group or Aleema group? What are their TORs and what they want to talk about? It’s nonsense. They aren’t serious. The PTI retracted its last-minute statement on the 26th Amendment to the Constitution,” the information minister said.