National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq has called a “decisive” third meeting of the negotiating committees representing the government and the opposition PTI on January 16. The much-anticipated closed session will be held at 11.30am in the Houses of Parliament, during which the former ruling party is likely to present its demands in writing to the government team. The development came a day after PTI negotiators met jailed PTI founder Imran Khan at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi. According to the former ruling party, the meeting took place in a “controlled environment”. The former ruling party announced after meeting the PTI founder that it is ready for a third round of talks with the ruling coalition. The date of the key meeting was fixed after a telephonic conversation between PTI leader Asad Qaiser and NA spokesperson, sources told Geo News on Monday. The 71-year-old cricketer-turned-politician has been behind bars since August last year after being convicted in the Toshakhana-I case – one of dozens of cases registered against the former prime minister since he was ousted in April 2022. PTI seeks progress on demand A day earlier, at a joint press conference alongside PTI leaders Omar Ayub Khan and Asad Qaiser, Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) chairman Sahibzada Hamid Raza, who also serves as the spokesperson of the negotiating team, urged the government to press ahead with its demands during the upcoming roundtable dialogue. He called on the government to set up an “impartial judicial commission” headed by a senior judge of the Supreme Court to investigate the events of 9 May 2023 and 26 November 2024. “There has been no progress in the negotiations yet,” he said, stressing the need for the government to act on their demands, especially the establishment of a judicial commission. Emphasizing that the release of political prisoners and the formation of a judicial commission were integral parts of their demands, Raza said PTI would submit its two demands in writing to the government team during the upcoming session. Raza warned that the dialogue will not continue unless a judicial commission is established and the former ruling party does not extend the deadline for talks with the government beyond January 31. “Show the CCTV footage if you [the government] think PTI is responsible [for the May 9 violence],” he demanded.
