Pakistan’s Shehbaz Sharif-led government on Sunday set up a negotiating committee to begin formal talks with jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party after threatening to call for civil disobedience.
The committee consists of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Prime Minister’s Political Assistant Rana Sanaullah, Education Minister Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Privatization Minister Aleem Khan, Religious Affairs Minister Chaudhary Salik Hussain and Senator Irfan Siddiqui. others
The PTI welcomed the formation of a government committee for talks, calling it a “positive step”. We consider the formation of the committee as a constructive step. There should be a meaningful dialogue based on positive intentions,” PTI President Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said.
Emphasizing that there should be a certain period of time for possible talks, he said that keeping in mind the sensitivity of the situation, the talks should proceed positively.
National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq took the lead on Wednesday by proposing that he is ready to host the two sides and facilitate talks.
While welcoming the newly formed committee, he said that the Speaker’s office is always open for members and invited the government and the opposition for dialogue, according to a statement issued by the National Secretariat. The speaker called the members of both the committees to meet on Monday morning and said that they will meet in his chamber in the parliament building.
PTI spokesperson Sheikh Waqas Akram said his party had accepted the Speaker’s invitation. He said that he will participate in the meeting of the committee on Monday.
Akram said the PTI founder would be informed about the progress of the meeting and decide whether to call off the civil disobedience movement. Talks are about to take place after PTI threatened to call for civil disobedience.
The party has posted on X from the account of the jailed ex-prime minister in connection with the call for a common disobedience movement on December 19 and has said that the government will protest if the party’s demands are not made. sunday
“I presented two demands to the government, the release of under-trial political prisoners and the formation of a judicial commission for a transparent inquiry into the incidents of May 9, 2023 and November 26, 2024,” the Post quoted PTI founder Khan as saying. . It noted that both these demands were “legitimate”.
“If the government fails to take any action against them by Sunday, the first phase of ‘remittance boycott’ – civil disobedience movement will be started,” the statement said.
PTI spokesperson Sheikh Waqas Akram also reiterated that the civil disobedience campaign will be launched tomorrow (Monday) if the party’s demands are not met. However, the issue of civil disobedience has been put on hold for some time, allowing both sides to resolve their differences through political means.
The 72-year-old Khan had warned of a civil disobedience movement from December 14 if the demands for the release of political prisoners facing trial on December 5 and the formation of a judicial commission to investigate the incidents of May 9, 2023 and November 26 of this year were fulfilled. were strangers.
Meanwhile, a military court in Pakistan sentenced 25 civilians to between two and 10 years in prison for attacking military installations during riots that erupted after Khan’s arrest in May last year, the military announced on Saturday.
On May 9, 2023, Khan’s PTI supporters reportedly attacked several military installations, including the army headquarters in Rawalpindi and the ISI building in Faisalabad, to vent their anger over the arrest of their party’s founder on corruption charges.
Hundreds of suspects were arrested in the nationwide clashes and handed over to military authorities for trial for involvement in attacks on at least 103 military installations.
Khan’s party has launched several demonstrations demanding the release of its supreme leader through 2023 and 2024, the latest in November 2024.
The former prime minister, who is currently lodged in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail, was arrested in August last year and has faced several cases since the fall of his government in April 2022.
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