-Both sides say second round of parleys over elections impasse held in a pleasant environment at Parliament House
-Parties hope next round of talks to yield positive breakthrough
-PTI warns talks could be ruined if government continues with unjustifiable arresting pattern
BY ALI IMRAN
ISLAMABAD: Members of the government and opposition PTI wrapped up the second round of crucial election talks at the Parliament House on Friday, with leaders from both sides saying that they had exchanged their proposals and dialogue would resume on Tuesday (May 2).
The exercise was initiated Thursday for a breakthrough in the weeks-long deadlock on elections between the ruling coalition and the PTI.
The opposition delegation — formed on Wednesday night — consisted of PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry and Senator Ali Zafar.
Meanwhile, the PML-N’s Ishaq Dar, Khawaja Saad Rafique, Azam Nazeer Tarar and Sardar Ayaz Sadiq along with PPP’s Senator Yousuf Raza Gilani and Syed Naveed Qamar were representing the government.
Following the conclusion of talks yesterday, Dar said each side had tabled two proposals, which would be presented to the government and PTI leadership. “Some progress was made today,” he said, adding that “almost final round” of the talks would resume on Tuesday at 11am.
When asked to share details about the proposals, he said, “We are morally bound. We cannot share the proposals of either side.” Meanwhile, PTI’s Qureshi also said progress was made during the talks yesterday.
Speaking to the media outside the Parliament House, he said the negotiations were held in a “pleasant environment” yesterday and with the intention to “find a way forward while staying within the ambit of the Constitution”.
“In my view, we made appropriate progress in this regard today,” he added. Qureshi confirmed that both sides had tabled their proposals during yesterday’s meeting, saying that the PTI’s suggestions were “reasonable, implementable and within the constitutional bounds”.
“We will now consult our leadership and they will seek the opinion of their coalition partners,” he said. “I, Fawad Chaudhry and Ali Zafar will go to Lahore tomorrow and take Imran Khan into confidence on today’s progress,” Qureshi said, adding that talks on Tuesday would be held in the light of this development.
Speaking alongside Qureshi, Chaudhry criticised the detention of PTI leader Ali Amin Gandapur and “arrest of 33 supporters of Imran Khan” outside the Islamabad High Court (IHC) yesterday, saying that such actions would “destroy the process of dialogue”.
He noted that government ministers had maintained that they had no involvement in these arrests. “Then whoever is doing this, it is akin to ruining the talks, and the responsibility falls on the government in any case,” he added.
“If you will engage in arrests without reason, the matter will derail,” the PTI leader said. Qureshi also condemned the arrests outside the IHC yesterday, saying that Friday’s discussion began with this issue.
The arrests, he said, had no justification. “There are talks on the one hand and this situation on the other. So they (government representatives) were asked what are they trying to do and were they creating an enabling environment.
“They understood [our stance] and consequently, 33 arrested people were released,” he added.
