ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senator Shibli Faraz suggested that the deadline for dialogue with the government could be extended beyond January 31, if significant progress is achieved, The News reported on Sunday.
Speaking to a local channel on Saturday, Faraz, who is also the leader of the opposition in the Senate, said that with 20 days remaining until the deadline, the party would soon have clarity on the direction of the talks. He added that extending the deadline slightly would not be a major problem if meaningful progress was made.
A positive development in the negotiations could justify a short extension, emphasised Faraz.
Meanwhile, uncertainty surrounds the next round of talks between the PTI and the government. Whereas, National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq stated that neither side had approached him to arrange the talks.
“Next round of talks can be arranged on a notice of a day or two, whenever two sides approach me,” he said, adding that it was not his responsibility to facilitate a meeting between the PTI leaders and their incarcerated party’s founding chairman, Imran Khan. He explained that the government and its allies could decide whether to hold the meeting or not.
Sadiq also mentioned that he had informed PTI’s Asad Qaiser on a phone call on January 4 that PTI’s demands had been conveyed to the government. He suggested that PTI leaders could directly contact the government, including Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s adviser, Rana Sanaullah.
PTI had earlier set a deadline for negotiations, with conditions including the release of Imran and other party leaders and the constitution of judicial commissions to investigate incidents of May 9 and November 26.
Separately, PTI Senator Barrister Ali Zafar clarified that Imran had resolved not to seek any deal or relief, choosing instead to pursue a legal battle.
The PTI senator advocated talks on electoral reforms, the appointment of a chief election commissioner and the abolishment of the constitutional bench.
Zafar, who is his party’s parliamentary leader in Senate, stated at present there was no democracy. “The government is apparently a government; it is negotiating; but look, it’s looking elsewhere [for permission],” he added.
Regarding the current policy of dialogue with the government, he maintained that even today there was a group in the PTI that insisted on opting for resistance. “We can end darkness not with darkness but with light; we have a tongue, and we will continue our struggle [by speaking] with it,” he added.
Meanwhile, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif slammed the PTI after its founder’s post on X to warn the government to discontinue the negotiation process after the third meeting if it continues to remain non-serious and fails to form a judicial commission on May 9 and November 26 incidents.
The defence czar said that the dialogue process would be meaningless after the PTI founder’s recent message on social media.
A war of words continues between the government and the opposition despite the two sides entering a negotiation process after months of a political tug-of-war.
Both sides held two negotiation sessions on December 27, 2024, and on January 2, 2025.
Addressing a ceremony in Sialkot on Saturday, Asif said that there was no pressure from Trump for the release of Imran.
“Either he will come out of jail or otherwise, I cannot predict it. This is the job of courts,” he said.
He held that every PTI tactic had failed and remittances had not stopped despite their desire, instead they had increased.
“Pakistanis working abroad send money to their homes for domestic expenses. Stopping these remittances at the desire of Imran Khan is absolutely impossible.”
The defence minister remarked that the PTI estimates had proved wrong every month, as remittances rose.
“Now he [Imran Khan] is saying its impact will become evident after two to three months. His every tactic has failed and he has remained unsuccessful.”
Khawaja Asif said that they said that the PTI founder had been offered to be shifted to Banigala, adding, “This is his [Imran’s] desire and there is no substance therein.” He remarked that the PTI caused destruction during its tenure.
“A day before the PIA flight took off for Paris. We hope flights will start for 19 cities in Europe. Permission will also be given by the UK as well. The economy is improving despite PTI politics of sabotage and destruction. We can become self-reliant if political stability comes and peace is established,” he said.
Meanwhile, ex-speaker National Assembly Qaiser said the government was making various claims regarding talks. He alleged that Federal Minister Asif and Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz were trying in every possible way to derail the negotiations.
In his statement, he regretted criticism of Imran Khan’s tweets. “The PTI is an oppressed party. On November 26, we were prevented from exercising our fundamental rights. Bullets were fired on unarmed citizens. Our people were sentenced in military courts. Despite all this, we reduced our reservations and demands so that the country can move forward.”
Qaiser said the government had promised that they would arrange committee members’ meetings with the PTI founder but now the government was using different tricks and excuses.
“We want the country to be governed by the Constitution, have an independent judiciary, have civil supremacy, and have a strong parliament, and that the country should be run in true sense according to the will of people. We stand by our stance in all cases,” he added.
He claimed that the party founder had emerged as a great leader not only in Pakistan but also in the whole world. The difficulties and hardships that the PTI founder was enduring in jail, were for the country and the entire nation stands with him.
Also, PTI Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram Saturday slammed the PML-N political “dwarfs” for unjustly criticising former prime minister Imran.
Reacting to different PML-N leaders’ statements, he claimed that his leader was unlawfully incarcerated and was a prisoner of conscience. “This in stark contrast to the ‘corrupt’ Sharifs, who are certified criminals,” he added.
Waqas came down hard on Federal Minister Ahsan Iqbal, CM Punjab Maryam and other “cronies” for spewing venomous and toxic rhetoric, targeting Imran unfairly in a deliberate attempt to further pollute the political environment to evade the dialogue process.
He insisted that the PTI founder was a visionary, courageous and selfless leader, who had been in arbitrary detention for over 525 days for his efforts to create a truly democratic Pakistan, where the country was governed by justice and equality, rather than personal interests and power struggles.
The party spokesman condemned the “unfair treatment” meted out to Imran Khan, who was denied basic facilities in jail and was being subjected to inhumane conditions.
In stark contrast, he recalled how the Sharif family, despite being convicted, was allowed to hold daily meetings with their relatives and friends in jail, turning the facility into a “Juma bazaar”. He told Maryam that her father was detained in mega graft cases and was crying for help, and then sealed a deal to secure release, leaving the party leaders and workers in the lurch.
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