PML-N Senator Irfan Siddiqui deplored the “unfortunate decision” of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to call off the negotiation process with the government and said the former ruling party should “reconsider” it for the sake of political stability. in the country. “When they [PTI] knocked on our door and handed over the questionnaire, they should have heard our answers,” PML-N Senator Irfan Siddiqui – the spokesperson of the government’s negotiating committee – said during an interview with reporters outside Parliament House on Thursday. The remarks came shortly after jailed PTI founder Imran Khan “called off” talks with the government after it failed to form a judicial commission within a seven-day deadline. Speaking to the media outside Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said Khan expressed his frustration over the delay and said the government’s failure to act on setting up a judicial commission was no reason to continue talks. “The PTI founder has categorically announced that there will be no further rounds of negotiations,” Gohar said. “The government has made a statement but has yet to fulfill it and that is why Imran Khan has decided to end the talks. Talks between the PML-N-led government and the PTI began in late December in an attempt to ease political tensions. But weeks of talks – three sessions have been held so far – have produced little progress on key issues. In its written charter of demands submitted to the government during its third session on 16 January, the Khan-founded party demanded the formation of two judicial commissions – appointed by the PTI and the government jointly within seven days – and the release of “political prisoners”. “. The former ruling party’s demands for two judicial commissions were to investigate the 9 May 2023 riots as well as the 24 November to 27 November 2024 events related to its protest in Islamabad. At a media briefing today, Siddiqui said the former ruling party took 42 days to present its “charter of demands” and now “they want us to set up a judicial commission in seven days”. “We reckon seven working days will be completed on January 28,” he said, wondering why the PTI had threatened to pull out of the talks. “It’s hard to figure out what went wrong in the last seven days that led the party to give up on talks?” “They [PTI] started it fast and now they are retreating hastily. They are leaving with the same impatience with which they started it. We ask them to stay put and let the weather improve,” he added. The PML-N senator further said that the ruling committee has taken PTI’s demands seriously and formed a sub-committee consisting of seven allied parties to write a written reply. “We have almost formed an opinion on PTI’s demands,” he said, asking the Imran-founded party to reconsider its decision if it can form an opinion “beyond that of its founder”. The spokesman also said the government showed restraint at many points during the meeting and ignored many PTI actions, including Imran’s posts on his official X handle. He went on to say that the government has no objection to Imran’s continued call for civil disobedience as it wants to move forward with the talks in a “spirit of democracy and give and take”. He urged the PTI founder to reconsider his course or inform the government in writing if the talks end.
