Fawad Chaudhry, the PTI’s spokesperson, said on Tuesday that the party would continue election negotiations with the government despite what he called “attempts to sabotage”.
On Saturday, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) spokesman Fawad Chaudhry said that the former ruling party would continue talks with the government about the electoral structure within the confines of the Constitution.
In a tweet, Fawad reaffirmed the PTI’s resolve to obey the Supreme Court’s directives and its opposition to any effort to “sabotage the talks.”
He said that the final agenda for the talks would be discussed the following day, on Tuesday.
Soon after Senator Ishaq Dar, the country’s finance minister, denied that the federal government had anything to do with the raid on the Lahore home of former Punjab chief minister Pervaiz Elahi last night, the news broke.
According to a statement released today, Dar contacted senior PTI leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi and said that the police action was taken out by the interim Punjab administration and had nothing to do with the Centre.
Dar voiced her regret that the “veil and the four walls” had been breached during the raid. Qureshi filled Dar in on the feelings of Elahi’s family and the party as a whole.
Dar assured Qureshi, “We will inform our leadership about the emotions of the PTI,” and his party will quickly reestablish contact with the opposition party.
Earlier in the day, Fawad indicated that the party would consult with PTI Chairman Imran Khan before making any decisions regarding the continuation of the discussions with the Centre.
Fawad tweeted that the negotiations were “meaningless” because of the attack on the home of PTI Central President Pervez Elahi, the continued detention of Ali Amin Gandapur despite bail, and the arrests of workers.
He questioned the government’s ability to make significant policy decisions if it could not improve the current situation.
The tweet was posted a day after Elahi was arrested in a joint operation between the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE), Punjab, and the Lahore police.
Over the course of more than three hours, law enforcement officials remained at Elahi’s home, arresting roughly nine people, but were unable to locate him.
Talks between the government and PTI
Leaders from the ruling alliance and the PTI had been in talks for hours prior to the raid, and they appeared to be making progress despite their differences. The leaders from both sides had previously refused to let their disagreements prevent them from reaching a consensus on general elections.
On the second day of negotiations, representatives from the government and the PTI went into a room in the Parliament House, closed the door, and emerged a couple of hours later, having agreed to hold a third and, potentially, final round of talks on the following Tuesday.
As the leaders emerged from the second round of talks between the PTI and the ruling coalition to break the ongoing political and constitutional impasse in the country, they sounded optimistic about the future prospects of the talks and the country as a whole.