Pak: PTI to miss 4th round of talks with government
Jan 24, 2025
Islamabad [Pakistan], January 25 : Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has decided to give the fourth round of talks with the government a miss, which was summoned by the National Assembly Speaker on January 28, ARY News reported.
Opposition leader in National Assembly Omar Ayub said on Friday that the party would not participate in the upcoming round of talks, scheduled for January 28.
PTI chairperson Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said that PTI founder Imran Khan had decided to negotiate with the government for the 'national interest'. However, the government had failed to establish a judicial commission, which led to the 'breakdown' of negotiations with the government, as reported by ARY News.
Earlier in the day, the National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq summoned the 4th session of the negotiation committees of the government and the opposition on January 28 (Tuesday).
Separately, the PM's Advisor on Political Affairs, Rana Sanaullah reaffirmed on Friday that the government has always supported dialogue as a way to resolve political issues.
"The government requested seven working days to provide a response to the demands," he stated. "Regardless of whether the answer was, the talks were scheduled to proceed after that."
He criticized PTI for withdrawing from the talks prematurely by adding that the PTI's decision to abandon the process before the agreed time shows they were not serious about resolving the issues through dialogue, ARY News reported.
Earlier this week, Senator Irfan Siddiqui, a member of the government's negotiating team, urged Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) not to quit talks with the federal government.
He appealed to PTI not to abandon the dialogue process and should be continued with patience, emphasising that talks are an integral part of a democratic process in politics.
"We are still calling them not to leave talks, wait for some days", he said.
Siddiqui said that the government took PTI's demands seriously, However, he clarified that no decision has been made regarding the forming of a judicial commission.
