Members of the govt & PTI wrap up the second round of crucial election talks at the Parliament House

ISLAMABAD, April 28 (SABAH): Members of the government and opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf wrapped up the second round of crucial election talks at the Parliament House on Friday, with leaders from both sides saying that they had tabled their proposals and dialogue would resume on Tuesday.

The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM)-led government and the opposition party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) are set to hold the “final” round of talks on May 2 (Tuesday) after the former ruled out the possibility of a deadlock between the sides.

Following the second round of talks — which was held Friday in Senate’s Committee Room — the sides decided to consult with their top leadership and allies over the proposals presented during the meeting.

The exercise was initiated on Thursday for a breakthrough in the weeks-long deadlock on elections between the ruling coalition and the PTI.

The second round of the talks took place in the Committee Room No 3 at the Parliament House, with the government side comprising of Finance Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Railways Minister Khawaja Muhammad Saad Rafique, Law Minister Senatorc Chaudhry Azam Nazir Tarar Advocate, Commerce Minister Syed Naveed Qamar, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) senior leader and former prime minister Senator Makhdoom Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani, PML-Q leader and Minister for National Food Security and Research Chaudhry Tariq Bashir Cheema and Kishwar Zehra of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P). The PTI was represented by its Vice Chairman Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Senior Vice President Fawad Ahmed Chaudhry and Senator Barrister Syed Ali Zafar.

Following the conclusion of talks on Friday, Ishaq Dar said each side had tabled two proposals, which would be presented to the government and PTI leadership. “Some progress was made today,” he said, adding that the “final round” of talks would resume on Tuesday at 11: 00 AM.

“There is no deadlock in the talks. PTI and the government’s committees will meet on Tuesday at 11:00 AM,” he said, elaborating that the meeting has been postponed till next week as both sides need to discuss the proposals with their leadership.

Talking to journalists, PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi said in his view, “reasonable progress” was made today and that he would inform party chairman Imran Khan about the talks after visiting him in Lahore. “We presented our point of view and they presented theirs,” Qureshi said, without elaborating on what the proposals were so far.

He said the negotiations were held in a “pleasant environment” today and with the intention to “find a way forward while staying within the ambit of the Constitution”. “In my view, we made appropriate progress in this regard today,” he added.

Qureshi confirmed that both sides had tabled their proposals during today’s meeting, saying that the PTI’s suggestions were “implementable and within the constitutional bounds”. “We will now consult our leadership and they will seek the opinion of their coalition partners,” he said. The PTI leader further stated that the talks would resume on Tuesday at 11am.

“I, Fawad Chaudhry and Ali Zafar will go to Lahore tomorrow and take Imran Khan into confidence on today’s progress,” he said, adding that talks on Tuesday would be held in the light of this development.

Fawad Chaudhry, during the same press conference, said the talks were held in a “positive atmosphere”, but warned that talks would derail if arrests of his party workers did not stop.

“The arrests will destroy the negotiation process. Ali Amin Gandapur has still not been released despite him securing bail in all his cases,” the former information minister said.

Fawad Chaudhry said the government and ministers claim that they are not behind the arrests, but warned that whoever was behind the detentions was hurting the negotiation process.

Meanwhile, Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said he was of the opinion that the ruling coalition should not hold talks with the PTI, terming the exercise a “waste of time”.

However, he added, while party leaders had their individual opinions, final decisions were made collectively.

The PML-N leader expressed these views while speaking to the media outside the Parliament House in Islamabad. He said the government had already stated that it lacked the funds to hold elections on separate dates and that it was “not financially possible” to organise elections on different dates.

“Secondly, if elections are held on different dates, I believe it would cause irreparable damage to the federation”, he said, adding that it would increase the anti-Punjab sentiment in other provinces.

The PML-N leader further said there was an ongoing power struggle between the institutions, adding, “I think the country and Constitution are not being served if someone is aiding Imran Khan.”

He highlighted that while the Constitution mandated that polls should be held within 90 days of the dissolution of assemblies, “it also states that they should be held on one day”. “Elections will be held on one day in October,” he asserted.