Members of the ruling coalition and opposition PTI met again at the Parliament House on Tuesday (today) for a third round of crucial election talks.
\nThe talks are currently under way inside a hall at the Parliament House.
\nThe exercise was commenced last week on the Supreme Court\u2019s advice for a breakthrough in a weeks-long deadlock between the government and the PTI.
\nPML-N\u2019s Ishaq Dar, Khawaja Saad Rafique, Azam Nazeer Tarar and Sardar Ayaz Sadiq along with PPP\u2019s Senator Yousuf Raza Gilani and Syed Naveed Qamar have been representing the government in the negotiations.
\nMeanwhile, the opposition delegation consists of PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry and Senator Ali Zafar.
\nSpeaking to the media upon his arrival at Parliament House today, Qureshi said \u201cthe PTI\u2019s conditions will be known to all after today\u2019s talks\u201d.
\nTo a question about \u201cmistakes\u201d from both sides during the course of the negotiations, Qureshi maintained that the PTI had made none. \u201cWe are proceeding seriously and honestly,\u201d he said.
\nEarlier, members of the PTI\u2019s negotiating team held a meeting to determine the plan of action and strategy for the meeting.
\nMeanwhile, PPP co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari also called on Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman \u2014 who has opposed the talks \u2014 at his residence in Islamabad.
\nDuring the second round of the dialogue on Friday, leaders from both sides had tabled their proposals, which the PTI\u2019s delegations intended to discuss with its leadership and the government representatives with their allies.
\nFollowing the meeting, Dar had said while speaking to the media that Tuesday\u2019s (today) dialogue would be the \u201calmost final round\u201d of the negotiations.
\nWhile both sides have come to the table at Parliament in an attempt to reach a consensus on the issue of elections, they continue to argue elsewhere.
\nFor one, the government has already termed PTI Chairman Imran Khan\u2019s demand for the dissolution of the assembly by May 14 \u2018impractical\u2019, while the latter hitherto has not shown flexibility in this regard.
\nA day ago, he vowed not to get \u201ctrapped\u201d in the government\u2019s plans to hold elections in September and warned that his party would take to the streets if the Supreme Court\u2019s order to hold polls in Punjab on May 14 was violated.
\nMeanwhile, Federal ministers Ahsan Iqbal, Javed Latif and Khawaja Asif went public with their opposition to the talks on Monday, prompting Qureshi to demand a \u201cclear response\u201d from the ruling coalition and warn of taking to the streets if negotiations ended up being an \u201cexercise in futility\u201d.
\nElections impasse
\nEfforts to reach a consensus come against the backdrop of an impasse on elections, with the PTI seeking early polls \u2014 particularly in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where assemblies were dissolved in January \u2014 and the government maintaining that elections across the country be held on the same day in October.
\nEarlier this month, the Supreme Court \u2014 while hearing a PTI petition \u2014 had directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to hold general elections to the Punjab Assembly on May 14. However, the government had rejected the apex court\u2019s orders.
\nAfter repeated back and forth last week, the Supreme Court on April 20 afforded a temporary respite to the country\u2019s main political parties, giving them time till April 26 to develop a consensus on the date for elections to the provincial and national assemblies, so they could be held simultaneously across the country.
\nHowever, on April 26, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif reiterated that simultaneous elections will take place in Octo\u00adber or November after the current National Asse\u00admbly completed its term on August 13, whereas parliament will have the final say regarding the initiation of talks with the opposition.
\nThe government wanted to talk to the PTI, he had said, adding that there was an overwhelming opinion that the doors of dialogue should not be closed, but its format was yet to be decided. \u201cThe decision [regarding talks] has to be taken by parliament, not you or me,\u201d he added.
\nSubsequently, Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani had formed a committee with four members each from both the ruling coalition and the opposition for dialogue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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