The government and the PTI are continuing their negotiations.
It is anticipated that the championship match will take place on Tuesday of the following week.
ISLAMABAD — On Friday, leaders from the ruling alliance and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) continued their efforts to find common ground through dialogue ahead of the upcoming general elections. The leaders from both sides have thus far refused to let their differences derail the talks.
The government and PTI negotiating teams have put out their suggestions in an effort to build a consensus on holding general elections across the country at the same time, and while finding common ground may not be easy, progress is likely to be made soon.
On the second day of discussions on Friday, representatives from the government and the PTI again went into a room in the Parliament House, closed the door, and emerged a couple of hours later, having agreed to hold the third and, potentially, final round of talks on the following Tuesday.
The leaders on both sides came out of the second round of talks between the PTI and the ruling coalition to break the ongoing political and constitutional impasse in the country sounding optimistic about the future prospects for a resolution.
In order to hold national elections on the same day across the country, the PTI leadership insisted during the conference that the ruling alliance dissolve the National, Sindh, and Balochistan assemblies by May of this year and not provide the budget.
Caretaker governments in Punjab and KP have been taken to the Supreme Court by Fawad.
In order to hold national elections this year before the end of August, the PTI team argued that the assemblies should be dissolved by the end of May and that the caretaker setup should present a temporary budget for four months.
At the talks, the government side comprised Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique, Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar, Economic Affairs Minister Ayaz Sadiq, Commerce Minister Syed Naveed Qamar, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senator Yousaf Raza Gillani, Muttahida Qaumi movement Pakistan’s (MQM-P) Kishwar Zehra and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid’s (PML-Q) Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research, Tariq Bashir Cheema.
Senator Barrister Ali Zafar and PTI representatives Fawad Chaudhry and Shah Mahmood Qureshi were also present.
After months of political fighting, the two sides finally met for a second time to discuss settling their differences and the budget was cited as the key sticking point. I think we have a better shot at success now that we’ve had two encounters in a friendly setting.
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But the government side insisted that the assemblies can’t be dissolved right away because the budget is so close and the government is about to revive the IMF program for which it has spent a great deal of political capital since it took office in April.
PTI leadership, according to sources present at the meeting, argued that the government wanted to offer a “political budget” before the next election in an effort to regain lost political capital. The IMF would not approve of such a move. According to their plan, a transitional government might issue a budget for four months, and the newly elected administration would then present the full yearly budget.
However, government officials insisted that the budget presentation was necessary because it would bring about political and economic stability in the country, as well as because of pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The PTI side insisted that the National Assembly would be dissolved on August 11 and that the government side, instead of insisting on holding elections in September or October, should show some flexibility by agreeing to a date in July or August.
The PTI leadership voiced their frustration with the recent spate of arrests of PTI members and leaders during the meeting. According to a reliable source, the government stepped in to ensure the release of all PTI members who had been imprisoned on Friday for attending PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s court appearance in support of Khan.
Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to making decisions within the bounds of the Constitution, acknowledging that doing so in a political forum was preferable to taking matters to the streets.
Law Minister Tarar and Barrister Zafar, according to sources in the meeting, gave detailed briefings on the legal and constitutional aspects of the developments that have taken place so far or might take place in the future if both sides agree to move ahead by adopting a “give & take policy.”
According to the source, “it is not about winning or losing; it is about reaching a compromise to bring political and economic stability in the country,” and for that to happen, all sides will need to be willing to bend a little.
After the government announced the date it would dissolve the National and Provincial Assemblies, the PTI team suggested to them that the date of the polls in Punjab, which had been ordered by the SC on May 14, could be extended.
Since the constitutional deadline for holding elections in Punjab and K-P after the dissolution of assemblies has passed, the PTI reportedly discussed providing constitutional cover to past and future events.
According to informed officials, the government side suggested holding elections in August or September but requested more time to poll the heads of the associated parties before the next meeting on Tuesday.
The PTI delegation discussed constitutional protection for past and future occurrences in the initial round of negotiations on Thursday, which has increased the party’s chances of being readmitted to the National Assembly. 124 PTI legislators abandoned the NA in a mass resignation last April.
Some progress was made in the second round of talks, according to Dar, who said afterward that both sides had tabled proposals that would be presented to the top leadership of both sides.
Qureshi added that progress was made during Friday’s meetings, stating that negotiations took place in a cordial atmosphere and that the goal of both parties was to find a way ahead within the Constitution’s bounds. He said the PTI delegation would travel to Lahore to meet with PTI head Imran Khan and that another meeting had been scheduled for Tuesday at 11 a.m.
