Govt, PTI back on talks table

• Qureshi says party agreed to resume talks after govt started removing containers and registered FIR of attack on his Multan residence
• Sharif seeks Zardari’s advice on ending impasse, invites PPP co-chairman for lunch at PM’s House today
• Zardari asks Khurshid Shah to step up efforts to defuse situation

In a two-pronged strategy, 34 lawmakers of Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) resigned to step up pressure on the Nawaz Sharif government but followed up with an offer to resume talks after the failed first round, as the prime minister invited Asif Zardari, former president and leader of the main opposition Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), for lunch today (Saturday) to discuss ways of resolving the political impasse.

Earlier on Friday, the PTI core committee held a meeting after Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi handed over the resignations, including that of Imran Khan, to National Assembly Secretary Muhammad Riaz, mounting more pressure on the beleaguered government.

The resignations do not affect the stability of the government which enjoys a majority with ruling PML-N having 190 members in a House of 342. Khan’s PTI is the third largest party in the National Assembly.

Following the core committee meeting, Qureshi told reporters that “PTI is ready for talks.”

Qureshi said that the government had already started removing containers in Islamabad, while an FIR has also been registered against culprits who had attacked his Multan residence two days ago.

Later in the night, a government team led by Punjab Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar and comprising Information Minister Pervez Rashid, Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal and SAFRON Minister Lt Gen (r) Abdul Qadir Baloch met the PTI’s nominated dialogue committee at a local hotel to resume the talks process.

Talking to reporters after the meeting, PTI Vice Chairman Qureshi said they had again presented their demands to the government side which would consider them and get back to the party today (Saturday).

After one round of talks on Wednesday both Khan’s PTI and cleric Tahirul Qadri-led Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) had suspended dialogue with the government. Till now, Khan has been insisting that talks can take place only after Sharif, who has been in power for over 15 months, resigns. The anti-government protests in Pakistan are in their second week with thousands of supporters of PTI chief Khan and firebrand cleric Qadri camping outside the Parliament House.

After PTI’s core committee meeting, television channels quoted PTI leader Naeemul Haq as saying that it was possible that the prime minister could depart on a long leave until a probe into electoral rigging is completed.

Haq said that the core committee discussed matters in detail with legal advisers. However, PTI’s senior leader Arif Alvi soon denied that the party was willing to show flexibility in its demand for the Sharif’s resignation. Alvi said “another window of negotiations” had now opened and that the government should seize the opportunity otherwise the impasse might linger on.

QADRI WILLING TO TALK:

Meanwhile, Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief Dr Tahirul Qadri said that the government’s seriousness to resolve the crisis would be determined after one or two sessions of dialogue.

The PAT chief reiterated that they had not refused to hold dialogue, adding that more members of the opposition committee had shown up for dialogue in comparison to members of the government committee.

Qadri said the PAT did not just want the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif but a change in the system.

SHARIF TO MEET ZARDARI OVER LUNCH:

On the other hand, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has invited former president and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Asif Ali Zardari for a luncheon meeting in Islamabad today (Saturday) to discuss issues related to the political impasse.

Sharif had a telephonic conversation with Zardari on Friday and invited him for the meeting at the Prime Minister’s House.

Zardari arrived in Karachi on Thursday after chairing a high-level meeting of his party leaders in Dubai where he mostly lives since stepping down last year at the end of his five-year term as the president.

Zardari’s spokesman Farhatullah Babar said the two leaders talked to each other and agreed to meet on Saturday.

Both leaders are bound by the ‘Charter of Democracy’ signed between Sharif and former PPP leader Benazir Bhutto in 2006 to strengthen democracy.

It is expected that the two leaders will discuss the standoff between the government and thousands of protesters camping in Islamabad, calling for Sharif’s ouster.

ZARDARI TASKS KHURSHID TO DEFUSE DEADLOCK:

Meanwhile, Zardari has given a task to Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah to help defuse the political deadlock.

He gave this assignment to Shah during a meeting of the PPP central executive committee in Karachi.

The meeting also decided to engage former Punjab governor Makhdoom Ahmed Mehmood in the dialogue process.

The PPP leaders agreed that they would back the government in both the houses of the parliament and not support any undemocratic move against the government.