PM Shehbaz says elections to be held same day in October n Javed Laif says PML-N won’t go for talks with those who declared others ‘Mir Jafar’ and ‘Mir Sadiq’ and who conspired against state institutions and the Constitution n PTI’s Qureshi says why Kh Asif and Javed Latif becoming a hindrance in dialogue.
ISLAMABAD - The representatives of the ruling coalition and the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) are set to meet today in a crucial round of election talks amid inflexible gestures of some leaders from both sides dimming the success chances of the talks. Some senior leaders of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) are showing their disapproval of the government-talks, raising concerns that the process may not move ahead positively in the given situation.
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Some critical remarks of Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif and another federal minister Mian Javed Latif while opposing the talks prompted PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi to come in the public to say why PML-N leaders were becoming a hindrance in the process. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif the other day, while holding consultations with his party leaders, made it clear that the coalition government would not back down from its demand for simultaneous elections across the country in October. On the other hand, PTI chairman Imran Khan has said that his party would be ready for simultaneous elections if the government agrees to dissolve assembly before May 14. The government, however, has termed the demand impractical saying that it wanted to complete its term which will expire on August 11 this year.
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Meanwhile, Chairman Senate Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani, who is facilitating the talks, has changed the timing of today’s sitting from 11am to 9 pm. The timing of talks has been changed with the mutual agreement of both sides and due to some busy engagements of the members of the negotiation team, said a statement issued by the Senate Secretariat. The almost final round of talks would be held at the Senate Secretariat. The almost final round of talks would be held at the Senate Secretariat. Senior PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry has expressed the hope for any positive outcome of the negotiations only if the federal government agrees not to present the budget for the next fiscal year. “Our core demand is that the federal government should not give the next budget before going into election,” said Fawad said in an interview to The Nation yesterday.
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He expected that the deadlock in the talks could end if the Pakistan Democratic Movement-led ruling alliance showed some flexibility on the issue. “The presentation of the budget is the main stumbling block in the way of talks,” said former information minister Chaudhry, adding that the government was insisting on giving the next budget, which will be political in nature. “The move will create problems for the next government.” Fawad Chaudhry is of the view that a consensus could be developed on the same day of election for national and provincial assemblies if the government agrees that the next caretaker setup gives a provisional budget as a stopgap arrangement till the new government seizes power. Fawad Chaudhry said that PTI was ready to accept the government demand of holding elections of national and provincial assemblies on the same date. “A constitutional amendment would be needed if elections have to go beyond 90 days of the constitutional limit and we are ready for that,” he said.
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PTI leader Chaudhry said that the issue was why an outgoing government should present the next budget, which will bind the next government to implement the former’s fiscal policies. He further said that the Constitution allowed the caretaker government to present a budget for an interim period of four months. He said that Pakistan’s budget was facing complexities due to the lingering economic crisis and this could not be left on an outgoing setup. Chaudhry explained that this didn’t affect the PTI even if the government completed its constitutional terms because the party would get more popularity in these next few months. “But the present ruling alliance has no plan to run the country, which couldn’t be kept in this political turmoil for a longer period of time.” PTI Vice Chairman and former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that his party leadership is ready to go forward with the negotiations but their party will not allow the PDM to play with sentiments of people in the name of negotiations.
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“The PDM will have to give us a clear answer about holding general elections in third round of negotiations which is going to be held on Tuesday,” Qureshi said while talking to media in Rawalpindi. At the same time, he cautioned that PTI is ready for launching a movement if elections are not held under the Constitution. The former foreign minister also lashed out PML-N senior leaders and said that the government and the opposition are set to enter the final round of election talks but why PML-N’s Khawaja Asif and Javed Latif were becoming a hindrance in the ongoing dialogue. He also denounced Javed Latif of PML-N statment that dialogues with terrorists can’t be held. Addressing a press conference earlier in the day in Lahore, Federal Minister Mian Javed Latif said that PML-N had never shied away from elections, and it believed in political dialogue to sort out issues. However, it would not go for talks with those who declared others Mir Jafar and Mir Sadiq, and who conspired against the institutions and the Constitution. “Whenever we held negotiations, we did it on the basis of democracy,” he said and added that ‘Panchayats’ were never held in courts, as the courts were supposed to decide matters/ disputes as per provisions of the Constitution. He said any ‘Panchayat’, held at the will of one person, would not be successful. “We have to stand more strongly for supremacy of the Parliament and the Constitution,” he vowed. The negotiations between the government and the opposition party had started last week on the advice of the top court. The development was regarded as a major breakthrough in the weeks-long deadlock between the ruling alliance and the opposition party on the elections date. The federal government has already defied the order of the apex court to hold general election in Punjab on May 14.