Crucial govt-opposition talks on JUI-F march today – Newspaper

ISLAMABAD: Formal talks between the government and the opposition on the issue of "Azadi March" will begin on Friday (today) with both parties clinging to the demand for the resignation of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Opposition sources said Dawn that the government negotiating team headed by the defense minister, Pervez Khattak, would hold talks with the 11 members of the Rehbar Committee that have representation of all the main opposition parties in the residence of the leader of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI- F) Akram Khan Durrani on Friday night.

The sources said that Khattak, the president of the Punjab Assembly, Chaudhry Pervez Elahi, and the acting president, Sadiq Sanjrani, formally contacted opposition leaders on Thursday in search of an appointment.

It was the announcement of Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday that protesters would be allowed to continue their protest that the opposition agreed to hold talks with the government negotiating team.

An official brochure issued by the Prime Minister's Office after a meeting of Mr. Khan with the seven-member government negotiating team on Wednesday said the government with its firm belief in defending democratic ideals had decided to allow the proposal of & # 39; March Azadi & # 39 ;, "if it takes place within the scope of the law and the Constitution, as interpreted in the decisions of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and the High Court of Islamabad."

Both parties stick to their positions at the request of the Prime Minister's resignation

The announcement came in response to an opposition lawsuit that had declared that the option of negotiations with the government was subject to the party being allowed to carry out a peaceful "Azadi march".

Meanwhile, the negotiating team composed mainly of members of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) met Thursday with representatives of coalition partners and trusted them in their contacts with opposition parties and on the agenda of Your conversations with the Rehbar Committee.

Khattak with different members of the negotiating team met separately with the leaders of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), the Great Democratic Alliance (GDA) and the Muslim League of Pakistan-Q (PML-Q).

Speaking to reporters after his meetings with the allies, Khattak made it clear once again that there would be no talks with the opposition on the issue of the Prime Minister's resignation. His statement came in an apparent reference to the reported statement of the head of JUI-F, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, after a meeting of the Shura of the party in Sukkur in which he had asked the government team to bring the resignation of the first Minister.

Prime Minister Imran Khan during his meeting with television presenters on Wednesday said he would not resign from the office, as he was a "constitutionally elected" prime minister.

The PTI delegation met for the first time with MQM leaders in the House of Parliament and informed them of the government's decision to allow protesters to enter Islamabad on October 31 with some restrictions in light of several court rulings. superior.

Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui of MQM, who is also a member of the cabinet, said his party believed it was the constitutional right of opposition parties to protest.

The Federal Minister of Interprovincial Coordination, Dr. Fehmida Mirza, of the GDA, after her meeting with the PTI delegation, praised the government for its decision to allow the opposition to hold the march.

Later, accompanied by Sanjrani, the defense minister met with the president of PML-Q, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, and informed him about the government's strategy to face the opposition's protest.

Showing a gesture of goodwill before the talks with the opposition, Sanjrani also spoke with the president of PML-N and the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif to ask about the health of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

The sources said that the members of the Rehbar Committee had decided to hold an internal meeting to decide the "agenda" of the talks with the government.

“Yes, we will sit down and discuss the strategy for the talks before the arrival of the government team. We will also nominate someone to speak on behalf of all opposition parties at the meeting, ”said a member of the Rehbar Committee.

When he contacted him, the secretary general of the Popular Party of Pakistan (PPP), Farhatullah Babar, who is also a member of the Rehbar Committee, said they had already prepared a comprehensive demand letter that would be presented to the government team.

Babar said that, in addition to the resignation of the prime minister, his demands included new elections in the country without any involvement of the army, reforms in electoral laws and ending the continued censorship of the media.

Babar said that since the offer for the talks came from the ruling party, therefore, they were eager to know what proposals the government team would bring. He ruled out the possibility of suspending the long march, saying that any such demand by the government would be "unfeasible."

Babar said the government itself had recognized the democratic and constitutional right of the opposition to protest and, therefore, did not expect the government to ask them to cancel the march.

Posted on Dawn, October 25, 2019