Bilawal tries to get Fazl to meet with the PTI by praising him.
The PPP party leader has been assured by the PDM president that his party would not negotiate.
In an effort to gain support from inside the ruling coalition for discussions with the opposition PTI, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari met with PDM President Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Wednesday in ISLAMABAD.
According to those with knowledge of the discussions in Dera Ismail Khan, however, Fazl flatly declined to meet with PTI Chairman Imran Khan on the grounds that doing so would be fruitless. But he asked the PPP chairman for more time to discuss the issue with his fellow party members.
When Mufti Abdul Shakoor passed away, Bilawal sent his condolences together with a group that included Qamar Zaman Kaira and Faisal Karim Kundi. Later, he delivered Fazl a personal message from outgoing president Asif Zardari.
The sources claim that Bilawal has repeatedly emphasised the need of talks with the PTI. They further said that Fazl didn’t immediately answer and made it clear that he doesn’t trust Imran Khan.
An anonymous source reported that Fazl asked Bilawal who would ensure that Imran would keep his word. During its 10-year reign in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the PTI, according to Fazl, completely decimated the region.
In response, Bilawal emphasised that dialogue was the “solution to all crises in a democracy” and that it was important to keep the door of negotiation open at all times in politics. He urged Fazl to change his mind about his position.
Fazl requested some time to confer with the JUI-F on Bilawal’s urging. According to the sources, after conferring with the party, he “promised” to tell Bilawal of his choice.
The sources further claimed that the two leaders had reached a “unanimous” resolution to end the country’s present challenges through political discourse. There will be a conference of the coalition parties to discuss this matter after Eidul Fitr, the sources said.
At this discussion, participants discussed the importance of constitutional institutions and the maintenance of a healthy democracy. The geopolitical climate was also examined, in particular the threats the country faces both at home and abroad.
Moreover, the PDM government’s past year’s accomplishments and the PTI’s efforts to repair the harm done to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and the Gwadar port projects were analysed.
A meeting of government allies at the Prime Minister House the day before Bilawal and Fazl’s meeting ended with no agreement on whether or not to conduct discussions with the PTI.
When Bilawal met with Fazl, he was accompanied by two other PPP representatives. Qamar Zaman Kaira and Faisal Karim Kundi were both members of the delegation. After his meeting with Fazl, Bilawal went to see Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to report on their discussion.
After the PTI chairman dissolved the Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa legislatures in January to pressure the current government into holding early elections, the continuing political and legal standoff escalated.
However, Imran’s proposal has been met with resistance from the coalition administration. The PPP has proposed that the coalition undertake negotiations with the PTI over the topic of elections in order to find a way out of the situation.
At the meeting at the Prime Minister’s House, Bilawal insisted on continuing the political discussion, arguing that ending the discourse would be an undemocratic and non-political act that went against the beliefs of his party.
According to informed officials, Bilawal’s position was supported by the MQM-P, BNP-M, Khalid Magsi of the BAP, Chaudhry Salik Hussain of the PML-Q, Mohsin Dawar of the NDM, and others.
The JUI-F, on the other hand, was against holding negotiations with the PTI because its members believed Imran Khan lacked “political force.” Jamhoori Watan Party member Shahzain Bugti said he did not oppose discussion per se but did not have faith in Imran.
Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb issued a statement refuting any “sources-based speculations” shortly after the media began reporting on the position of different parties at the meeting of the ruling coalition.
