The PTI has said that it will not engage in negotiations with the federal government. Party Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram said the stance was taken following the instructions of party founder Imran Khan.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif reiterated his offer for talks with the opposition but also emphasised that dialogue between the two sides could only proceed on “legitimate matters”.
Later that day, Akram appeared on ARY News programme ‘The 11th Hour’, where he was asked if the PTI wants to negotiate with the government. He categorically said that the party was “not interested” in talks.
“I met Secretary General Salman Akram Raja and he said that Imran instructed the party not to engage with the government in any way,“ Akram explained.
“He also ordered that if anyone approaches Achakzai sahib or Allama Raja Nasir sahib for any matter, they have the authority to decide whether or not they want to talk,” he added, referring to Tehreek Tahafuz Ayeen-i-Pakistan (TTAP) leaders Mahmood Khan Achakzai and Allama Raja Nasir Abbas.
Akram further said that the two opposition alliance leaders would decide how to respond to the government’s invitation. He added that, while speaking with the TTAP, he noted that other “friends” within the alliance are in favour of talks.
“Since Imran Khan instructed the PTI against starting talks, under the directions of Salman Akram Raja, we rejected the offer,” he said.
Asked if the party would announce a protest movement, Akram said that, unless a direct order is issued by Imran, Achakzai has the power to call a strike.
“He called for a wheel-jam strike on February 8,” he added. “We have activities to carry out on our own; then we participate as part of an alliance.“
“When the alliance makes a call, we will be ready, but there must be mobilisation or preparedness. So he gave the KP chief minister the responsibility to start the street movement.”
On December 21, the second and last day of a “national conference” held by TTAP, the participants had agreed that the door to dialogue must never be closed in a democracy.
They were of the opinion that in light of the ongoing national crisis, the country needed a new Charter of Democracy more than ever before.
The same day, political leaders, including ruling PML-N stalwarts, from across the spectrum called for dialogue and restraint to achieve stability in the country, saying that political confrontation was causing instability and violence.
The matter of talks between the opposition, mainly the PTI, and the government has been in the news since last year.
After more than a year of heightened tensions, the two sides commenced dialogue in the last week of December 2024 to bring down political temperatures. But despite weeks of negotiations, the dialogue process stalled on major issues — the formation of two judicial commissions to probe the protests of May 9, 2023 and Nov 26, 2024, and the release of PTI prisoners.
The Shehbaz government once again extended a dialogue offer to the opposition PTI in February this year as National Assembly (NA) Speaker Ayaz Sadiq insisted that the option of talks had never been dropped.
However, a day after the PM made the offer, the PTI refused it, with party leader Asad Qaiser asking how they could enter a dialogue with the government when the rulers had stepped up the crackdown on the party.
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