PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry said on Sunday that his party wanted negotiations with the government — on the impasse on elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa — to be successful but at the same time contended that it had a “strategy” in place if the talks failed.
“PTI wants the success of negotiations [with the government], but it has formulated a strategy in case of failure,” the former minister tweeted.
“It is not possible for the PTI to sit silently if the Constitution is considered as a piece of garbage and the public as insects,” he said, calling on the people to prepare for a “movement”.
“The movement is starting tomorrow with rallies in Lahore, Islamabad, and Peshawar, culminating into a historic long march,” Fawad added.
Talks between the government and the PTI commenced earlier this week on advice of the Supreme Court. The development was seen as a breakthrough in the weeks-long deadlock on elections between the ruling coalition and the opposition.
After two rounds of talks, the parties are now expected to hold the final round of negotiations on May 2.
However, it seems Tuesday will be a tough day for the PTI and government negotiators, with the former seeking the dissolution of assemblies before May 14 and the latter appearing in no mood to entertain this demand.
The bonhomie on display throughout this week between the two sides was jolted by the late-night raids on former Punjab chief minister Parvez Elahi’s home.
With both major parties refusing to budge from their respective stances, chances that the dialogue will yield positive results are starting to look “very slim”.
Speaking to party workers on Saturday night, former prime minister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan said his party would be ready to discuss the election date only after the dissolution of the NA before May 14 — the cut-off date for elections in Punjab as per the apex court’s April 4 order.
“The PTI’s negotiating team will meet the government’s team for the third round on Tuesday (May 2) and present its demand to dissolve the National Assembly before May 14, otherwise [PTI] will go ahead with the Punjab general elections as per Supreme Court’s order,” Imran said and added the PTI would also approach the apex court for earliest general elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as the constitutional time frame of 90 days had already passed.
The PTI chief said the people of Pakistan were coming out for peaceful protests under the banner of the PTI as they were waiting for elections. “If elections will be denied, these people will not stay peaceful and Pakistan may face a situation worse than Sri Lanka,” Imran said in a warning to the powers that be.
The former premier also announced Labour Day rallies in Lahore, Islamabad, and Peshawar on May Day (Monday) with a secondary objective: ‘Save Constitution – Save Pakistan’. Imran said he would lead the Lahore rally from Liberty to Nasser Bagh, while Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Pervez Khattak will lead rallies in Islamabad and Peshawar, respectively.
Separately, in a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at Model Town a day earlier, the senior leadership of the PML-N decided it would not back down from its demand for simultaneous polls across the country.
During the meeting, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar updated the party leaders on the status of talks with the opposition as the huddle, also attended by Nawaz Sharif, resolved that the coalition government will stick to its demand for timely elections.
He said the meeting resolved that all coalition parties especially the JUI-F would be taken on board regarding the final decision on the demands of the PTI. The source was of the view that in case of an agreement between the ruling coalition and the PTI on polls, even though “chances are slim”, party supremo Nawaz Sharif will try to win Maulana Fazlur Rehman over.