ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Information Minister Ataullah Tarar this week criticized former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party for ending negotiations “unilaterally” with the government, saying it should have waited for the other side’s response. 

PTI leader Omar Ayub Khan announced the party’s decision to end further talks with the government on Thursday, saying that it would only resume negotiations to break political tensions if authorities established judicial commissions to investigate violence at anti-government protests organized by the PTI. 

Negotiations between the two sides kicked off in December 2024 after Khan threatened a civil disobedience movement. Both sides held three rounds of talks, and the government was expected to submit a formal response to the PTI’s demands on Jan. 28. 

“Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar says Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf unilaterally terminated the dialogue process without any reason,” state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported on Friday. 

The minister said the PTI should have waited for the government’s response to their demands, lamenting that it took the decision to end talks in a “hurry with ill intention.” 

Khan’s ouster in a parliamentary no-trust vote in 2022 has plunged Pakistan into a political crisis, particularly since he was jailed in August 2023 on corruption and other charges. His PTI party has regularly held protests to demand his release, with many of the demonstrations turning violent. 

But despite the government-opposition stalemate, Junaid Akbar Khan, a lawmaker from the PTI, was elected on Friday unopposed as the head of the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC), according to a statement issued by the National Assembly Secretariat. The post of the PAC chairman had been vacant since the general election in February last year.

The PTI’s demands to the government revolve around the release of all political prisoners including Khan, and the formation of two judicial commissions to probe into violent protest rallies, including one on May 9, 2023, when PTI supporters rampaged through military offices and installations, and a second one on Nov. 26, 2024 to demand Khan’s release, in which the government says four troops were killed.

So far, the government has remained tight-lipped on whether or not it would form the judicial commissions as per the PTI’s demands.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani pacer Kashif Ali will make his debut against West Indies today, Saturday, at the Multan Cricket Stadium as the two sides lock horns in the second Test match of the series. 

Pakistan lead 1-0 in the two-match series after winning the first one at the same venue by 127 runs. Pakistan’s spin duo of Noman Ali and Sajid Khan once again did the trick for Pakistan, spinning a web around West Indies batters to dismiss them before they could chase Pakistan’s target. 

Khan took nine wickets in the Multan Test while Noman took six and Pakistan’s third spin option Abrar Ahmed took five wickets to skittle the West Indies. 

“West Indies win the toss and elect to bat first,” the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said in a statement. 

Kashif Ali will get the Test cap today as Pakistan announced its playing XI on Friday. He will serve as the sole pacer in the upcoming fixture as Pakistan retain their spin-heavy bowling attack, featuring Sajid Khan, Noman Ali and Abrar Ahmed.

Pakistan’s playing XI:

Shan Masood (c), Muhammad Huraira, Babar Azam, Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan, Salman Ali Agha, Sajid Khan, Noman Ali, Abrar Ahmed, Kashif Ali.

West Indies squad:

Kraigg Brathwaite (c), Joshua Da Silva (vc), Alick Athanaze, Keacy Carty, Justin Greaves, Kavem Hodge, Tevin Imlach, Amir Jangoo, Mikyle Louis, Gudakesh Motie, Anderson Phillip, Kemar Roach, Kevin Sinclair, Jayden Seales, and Jomel Warrican.