The crucial third round of talks between Pakistan’s coalition government and former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistani party began Tuesday night to end a deadlock over the timing of provincial and federal elections, an issue that has shaken the politics of the country.
The talks took place against the background of controversy with Khan’s Pakistani Tehreek-i-Insaf: seeking early elections, particularly in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where assemblies were dissolved in January, and the government maintains that elections provincial and federal throughout the country are celebrated on the same day in October.
The talks taking place at Parliament House were scheduled to start at 11 a.m. today but were delayed until 9 p.m. As the two sides announced last week, they would discuss each other’s proposals to end the deadlock in the elections.
The government side included Ishaq Dar, Khawaja Saad Rafique, Azam Nazeer Tarar and Sardar Ayaz Sadiq of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and were joined by Yusuf Raza Gilani and Syed Naveed Qamar of the Pakistan People’s Party and other parties. in the coalition government.
The PTI, which is the main opposition party, introduced its Vice President Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry and Senator Ali Zafar for the talks.
The two parties seemed optimistic before the talks. Qureshi, who heads the PTI, said his team attends talks to find a solution to political issues.
“We have come here hoping that our proposal will be taken seriously,” he said, without elaborating on the proposals.
Tarar, representing the government side, said the official delegation was serious. “We want all the decisions to be made at the meeting,” he said.
Earlier, Imran Khan said the government should dissolve all assemblies by May 14 to pave the way for holding nationwide elections on the same date. However, the government is not willing to dissolve the assemblies.
The first round of talks took place on April 27, lasting for two hours, with the rivals deciding to meet again after consulting their party chiefs.
It was followed by the second round on April 28, when two sessions were held, and at the end, Dar said that each side had put forward two proposals, which would be presented to the respective leaders.
The election issue has rocked Pakistani politics when Imran Khan demanded early elections when he was ousted from power in April last year.
Failing to achieve his goal through protests, Khan dissolved the assemblies in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa provinces, where his party was in power.
By law, elections must be held within 90 days of the dissolution of an assembly.
However, the government used delaying tactics, citing lack of funds and rising terrorism to set a date for elections in the two provinces, while pushing the narrative that provincial and federal elections should be held on the same day in the country. after completion. of the National Assembly legislature in August.
The issue was later heard in the Supreme Court, which ordered elections to be held in Punjab on May 14 and the government to provide Rs 21,000 crore to the Pakistan Election Commission. He had set April 27 as the last date for the provision of funds.
The government has not provided the funds and has openly announced that it will defy the order to hold elections on May 14.
The talks began when the top court indicated it was ready to show flexibility on the date of the elections if the political parties agreed to a consensus to hold provincial and federal elections across the country on the same date.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)
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