Imran names three-member committee for talks with govt
Pakistan
The committee comprised Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Fawad Chaudhry and Senator Ali Zafar.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan on Thursday constituted a three-member committee for negotiations with the government.
The committee comprises PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Fawad Chaudhry and Senator Ali Zafar. It will negotiate with the government regarding holding elections on the same day across the country.
The Supreme Court has directed the political parties to hold dialogues to end deadlock on the issue of elections.
Meanwhile, Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar and Railways Minister Saad Rafiq have contacted Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani and requested him to form a committee comprising five members of the government and five opposition members. They requested the chairman to assign a space for holding dialogues in parliament. Chairman Sanjrani contacted the PTI leaders following the government proposal.
On the other hand, Ayaz Sadiq of the PML-N has been consulting other political parties on the issue of elections.
According to sources, the Senate chairman contacted Mr Qureshi, opposition leader in the Senate Dr Shahzad Wasim and Asad Umar and asked them to suggest names of five members for negotiations with the government.
Sanjrani’s letter
Meanwhile, the Senate chairman wrote letters to Leader of the House Ishaq Dar and opposition’s Shahzad Wasim, seeking names for a “special committee” on holding dialogues.
The chairman wrote the letter a day after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that “arbitration is not the SC’s job” and parliament will have the final say regarding the initiation of talks with the PTI.
In letters addressed to Dar and Shahzad, the chairman said he was approached by the government and allies to “facilitate the initiation of political dialogue to address the ongoing political and economic crisis including the holding of general elections."
“In this context, the constitution of a committee comprising members of the Senate belonging to both sides of the aisles has been proposed,” he said.
Mr Sanjarani noted that the Senate was bestowed with the responsibility of “protecting the national and political harmony vis-a-vis the national and public interest”. Therefore, he continued, a 10-member committee was being formed for holding political dialogue under the joint convenorship of Dar and Shahzad. It will comprise four members each from the treasury and opposition benches.
“My office and the Senate Secretariat will remain available to assist/facilitate the committee in the performance of its functions for preserving the political system and for the betterment of the state,” he wrote.
He directed both the opposition and government to nominate the names of their members within two days.
