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The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Sunday announced the formation of a three-member committee to conduct negotiations with the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), which has offered to broker talks between the government and the opposition to resolve prevailing crises.
In a posting on Twitter, PTI Secretary General Asad Umar announced that the party had decided to participate in the planned dialogue after a meeting between party chief Imran Khan and JI Emir Sirajul Haq. He said the PTI’s committee tasked with taking the talks forward would comprise former Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa chief minister Pervez Khattak; Senator Ejaz Ahmad Chaudhary and former Punjab minister Mian Mehmoodur Rashid.
At the same time, the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) has tasked lawmakers Ayaz Sadiq and Khawaja Saad Rafique to negotiate on its behalf. The party, which is currently ruling in an alliance with the Pakistan Democratic Movement, decided to proceed with dialogue after a meeting between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and JI’s Haq.
According to a statement, Haq and Sharif discussed the prevailing political situation, as well as the unfolding judicial crisis, agreeing that all issues should be resolved with collective wisdom.
“The JI had decided to contact the political parties to build a consensus for holding elections on the same day,” said JI Information Secretary Qaisar Sharif. “The country cannot afford any chaos at this time,” he said, adding that it had been agreed to continue meetings between the stakeholders and include other political parties in the process as well. The talks, he claimed, would be expedited after Eidul Fitr. It is likely that this would take the form of a multi-party conference with a one-point agenda of picking a single date for general elections nationwide.
The JI’s efforts follow a year of political tensions between the ruling coalition and the PTI, with both sides unwilling to commit to dialogue unless certain conditions have been met. The government maintains it is not willing to conduct dialogue with any preconditions, while the PTI claims it solely wishes to discuss a date for elections and is not interested in any other topics.
There have been multiple attempts to initiate dialogue, including from the Supreme Court, but the persistent refusal of the PTI chief to sit with “thieves” has prevented these from progressing.