Govt has something to offer to PTI if it joins today’s talks

ISLAMABAD: If the PTI joins the Tuesday’s meeting for the talks - already called off by Imran Khan - government will not outrightly reject PTI’s demand.

Instead, the government’s negotiating team will offer a middle ground. The News spoke to three members of the government’s negotiating team - Rana Sanaullah, Irfan Siddiqui and Ejazul Haq. All of them at least clearly indicated that they would have something to offer to the PTI and there is no such thing that the government would outrightly reject their demands.

The PTI had demanded the constitution of a judicial commission to probe May 9 and November 26 events besides asking the federal and provincial governments not to block the grant of bails or orders suspending the conviction and sentence of all political prisoners” arrested pursuant to “one or more FIRs registered with respect to any event on May 9, 2023 or any event on November 24 to 27, 2024 or any other political event anywhere”.

The government’s negotiating team though insists that judicial commission in their view cannot be set up on matters which are subjudice, there can be an option of setting up parliamentary committee.

Rana Sanaullah said that the PTI had made Nov 26 like blunder by calling off the talks without hearing the government side. He said the PTI’s civil disobedience call is continuing, the aggressive tweets are also unstopped while the government has also not barred PTI from protest. In this situation what benefit the PTI will get by leaving the dialogue process.

Rana already raised the question whether the serving judges would agree to be part of the commissions on May 9 and Nov 26. Irfan Siddiqui said that the government’s committee is there till Tuesday when the meeting of the two sides is already scheduled. He though didn’t share what is the precise response of the government side to the PTI’s demand, disclosed that the government will offer a middle ground to the PTI.

“Neither will we reject their demands outrightly nor will we accept them entirely,” he said, adding, “We will offer them some room to proceed further.” Had the PTI heard the government side, the situation would have improved. He said that the government side intended to compensate them to possible level.

Ejazul Haq lamented that the PTI had called off the dialogue process without waiting for government’s response. He also talked about the option of setting up parliamentary committee instead of judicial commission, which he insisted cannot be setup on issues which are subjudice in nature.