ISLAMABAD: As the second round of talks between the ruling coalition and the PTI concluded with hopes of a thaw on Friday, the third and final round would take place on Tuesday at 11am.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said talks proceeded in a good environment. “We will put forward two suggestions placed by the PTI before the allies,” he added. We saw improvement, he said, and no deadlock on both sides.
PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi, speaking to the media after the meeting, said the meeting incepted with the mention of arrests of PTI activits. “We will travel to Lahore tomorrow and will take Imran Khan into confidence,” he added.
PTI Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry said they had placed their suggestions before the government. “However, it is to be noted that 33 PTI activists at PTI chief Imran Khan’s appearance before the IHC were arrested without any reason,” he added.
He went on to say that arrests would sabotage the process of negotiations. “If you want matters to settle, arrests must be stopped,” he added. PTI leader Farrukh Habib, he said, was barred from travelling abroad.
Earlier, sources had said the PTI suggested the government to announce the date of dissolution of the National Assembly before presenting the budget. “It also suggested to dissolve the assembly soon after presenting the budget,” sources added.
The PTI put three conditions before the government; dissolve the National Assembly (NA) and other provincial assemblies, amend the constitution to hold general elections simultaneously in the country that required the NA Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf to take back the PTI MNA’s resignations, and hold general elections in July, sources said.
“However, the government does not seem to be agreeing to the PTI’s demands,” sources added.
