On Thursday, the Pakistan Democratic Movement’s Shehbaz Sharif-led government entered into long-awaited negotiations with former PM Imran Khan’s PTI party to discuss the date for the upcoming national elections.
Overview
The discussions reportedly lasted for two hours, during which both sides informed each other of their leadership’s position on the poll date. Sources quoted by Geo TV said the second meeting on the issue will be held tomorrow.
Representing the government, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) legislator Yousaf Raza Gilani, Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique, and Commerce Minister Naveed Qamar attended the negotiations.
On the opposition’s side were PTI Vice Chair Shah Mahmood Qureshi, PTI Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry, and the PTI’s legal head Ali Zafar.
The News Pakistan reported that the talks were conducted in a “cordial atmosphere.”
After the meeting, Gilani said the final decision “will be based on input from all parties.”
Similarly, Ishaq Dar said the negotiations will be in keeping with the state and the people’s best interests.
Meanwhile, Qureshi stated, “We have entered the talks with a spirit of arriving at a decision [...] but we will not allow the talks to be used as a delaying tactic for polls.” Nevertheless, he assured PTI was committed to resolving the issues through negotiations that would abide by the Constitution.
10 years of calling folks daku, corrupt and recently, traitors… After Never sitting inside the assembly as opposition leader or members and a delayed election later, PTI bigwigs appear on same table as PDM bigwigs…No way forward without legitimising and recognising the other pic.twitter.com/oh0v57dZrl
— Omer Azhar (@OmerAzhar96) April 27, 2023
Other sources said that the PTI listed three demands before the government.
First, the national and provincial assemblies must be dissolved in May 2023. The government must amend the Constitution if it wishes to conduct elections beyond 14 May, the party asserted.
Second, all its lawmakers’ resignations would be withdrawn if the Constitution were amended to make the election last for more than 90 days.
Lastly, the nationwide elections be held no later than July 2023.
Sharif Secures Trust Vote
On the same day, PM Shehbaz Sharif also secured support for a trust vote in the National Assembly, following which he announced negotiations with the PTI.
The resolution was introduced by Sharif’s Foreign Minister and PPP chair, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari. In the vote, 180 Members of the National Assembly supported Sharif’s leadership, a minor increase from the 174 who supported the PM when he was elected in April 2022.
Supreme Court Steps In
The discussions were held following an order by the Supreme Court, which has been conflicting with the government on the delay in the polls. Previously, it demanded that the political parties mutually agree on an election date by 26 April; however, the parties had made no progress on discussions by this date.
To this end, the Supreme Court said on Thursday that it could not force the opposing parties to enter negotiations. Nevertheless, Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial said, “The court only wants implementation of the Constitution so that the dispute is resolved.”