ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif has summoned a meeting of the ruling alliance on Wednesday before holding talks with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
On April 20, the Supreme Court adjourned the hearing till April 27 on a plea of the PTI regarding the general election in Punjab after the ruling coalition assured the top court that they will try to find a solution with the PTI about a final election date.
Sources said the central leadership of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and its coalition allies were expected to attend the meeting. According to the sources, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who is currently in Saudi Arabia, might also attend the meeting virtually.
The sources privy to the development said the meeting would be held at the Prime Minister’s House at 12:30 pm.
During the previous meeting of the allies’ partners, Pakistan People’s Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had suggested a dialogue with the PTI but Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) chief Fazlur Rehman had outrightly rubbished the proposal.
PML-N sources said the party leadership has tasked party leader Ayaz Sadiq to contact PTI’s Asad Qaiser and both are expected to meet today. PTI chief and former prime minister Imran Khan has said the mandate for negotiations with the ruling coalition rests with party’s Vice-Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi.
A three-member supreme court bench headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar has sought the progress report on the talks by April 27.
‘Disagreement’ among ruling coalitions
The dispute emerged among the ruling parties over holding negotiations with the PTI on April 18 after Jamaat-e-Islami chief Sirajul Haq attempted to bring both sides to the negotiation table.
Allies partners meeting
The PDM allies’ partners later met in Islamabad after PM Shehbaz convened a meeting on the country’s overall political situation and the JI chief’s talk efforts.
During the previous meeting, a disagreement took place among the ruling coalition parties over holding talks with the PTI as some believed that Imran Khan could not be trusted. Others insisted that political forces should not shut negotiation channels.
Sources said that Bilawal had stressed holding dialogue with the PTI and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan, the Balochistan National Party, the Balochistan Awami Party. MNAs Chaudhry Salik and Mohsin Dawar also backed Bilawal on his proposal.
Bilawal said closing the door for talks was against his party’s ” undemocratic ” principles.
But representatives of the JUI-F and the JWP rejected Bilawal’s suggestion saying it was not in the coalition’s interests to hold negotiations with Imran Khan, who was ousted from office through a no-confidence vote in April last year.
Later, Bilawal held a separate meeting with the JUI-F chief to convince him to hold talks with the PTI.
Earlier Bilawal and Maulana Fazl Rehman rejected the supreme court’s order for holding talks, terming it directive for holding dialogue between political parties “at gunpoint”.
