The negotiation process between the government and the PTI has come to a dead end or so it seems. The PTI, according to the latest reports, has refused to continue the talks because it found that the government party in the course of the three rounds held so far was using delaying tactics and not letting the negotiations come to a definitive conclusion.

Talks between the government and the PTI commenced in the last week of December to bring down the political temperature in the country, but despite weeks of negotiations, the dialogue process hardly moved forward on major issues— the formation of a judicial commission and the release of PTI prisoners. Losing patience over the tardy pace of talks, PTI’s negotiating team announced that they would attend the fourth round only if the government formed the proposed judicial commission while the ruling alliance stated that they would give their written response to the PTI’s demand in the next round.

Recapitulating the background to the talks, it may be added here that following the Nov 24 power show by the PTI at D Chowk, political tensions gripped the country and there were calls by PML-N leaders to ban the party and task forces were formed to counter the social media campaign by the PTI which claimed that dozens of its supporters were killed. Soon afterwards Imran Khan, softening his stance, formed a five-member committee to hold talks with “anyone” for the sake of political stability in the country. Responding positively, the government constituted its own committee comprising ruling coalition members to start negotiations with the PTI.

In the first two rounds, preliminaries were discussed and the PTI put forward its two main demands, namely the formation of judicial commissions to probe the incidents of May 9 and Nov 24, release of illegally detained PTI workers and leaders. But the government side insisted that these demands would be considered only after they were submitted in written form. In the third round held on Jan 16, the PTI formally presented its demands in writing.

It was a very important meeting which was attended by senior PTI leaders, including Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Omar Ayub, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, PTI MNA Asad Qaiser, Sunni Ittehad Council chief Hamid Raza, Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen chief Senator Raja Nasir Abbas Jafri and PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja. Those representing the government included Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, PML-N Senator Irfan Siddiqui, PPP MNAs Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and Naveed Qamar, prime minister’s political aide Rana Sanaullah, and MQM-P MNA Dr Farooq Sattar. PML-Z’s Ijazul Haq and Balochistan Awami Party’s Nawabzada Khalid Hussain Magsi were also present as part of the government committee.

During the meeting, the PTI formally presented its demands in written form. The three-page document was signed by the six opposition members who took part in the parleys. According to a joint press release issued afterwards, the government committee announced that it would present its formal stance on the opposition’s demands within seven working days and further that the date for the next meeting would be decided after consulting both the parties. Simultaneously, the government assured the PTI of a response to the opposition’s ‘charter of demands’ within seven working days after the latter warned that it would boycott the next round of talks if judicial commissions were not formed to probe the May 9 and November 26 incidents within the given time limit.

However, since the government did not meet the deadline, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan at a press conference announced that because the government has not formed judicial commissions within the stipulated time, the party considers the negotiations as ended. He further said, “The government is not serious. We presented them with simple demands during the negotiations. What was wrong with announcing the formation of a judicial commission? The PTI founder has, therefore, decided to call the talks off”. He clarified that the PTI was hopeful about the talks but they had to be called off “due to non-cooperation from the government.”

While the federal government and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf are blaming each other for the “deadlock in negotiations”, uncertainty looms large over the future of the stalled negotiations. The question now is: Where do they go from where? And who is responsible for the breakdown of the talks? The answer is both the parties. The government unduly delayed the start of negotiations and once they started it kept dragging its feet over the main demands of the PTI. On its part, the way the PTI behaved showed that it lacked the acumen and astuteness to get past the stonewalling tactics adopted by the government representatives.

In the latest turn of events, the government has asked the PTI to reconsider its decision of abandoning the dialogue process. Addressing a press conference outside the Parliament House a few days ago, PML-N Senator Irfan Siddiqui urged the PTI to not forsake dialogue in the larger national interest. political stability. He also said that the coalition parties had formed their opinion on the PTI’s demands and wanted to advance talks in the “spirit of accommodation, democracy and give and take”. This means that the government has not closed the door to negotiations. It would be advisable for the PTI to use this window of opportunity to continue the talks and exhaust all possibilities to win at the negotiating table instead of taking to the streets for the realisation of its goals.