ISLAMABAD: The government and the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) of former Prime Minister Imran Khan held the first round of formal negotiations on Monday to address a range of issues, with PTI asked to present its demands in writing at the next session on January 2.
The two sides began long-awaited talks to resolve issues fueling political polarization and straining the country’s fragile economy, with National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq chairing the meeting, after the government formed a negotiating team a day earlier.
The development came after ex-premier Khan’s threat to launch civil disobedience by urging overseas Pakistanis, his party’s key support base, to halt remittances if his demands, including the release of political prisoners, were not met by Dec. 22. Khan, who has been imprisoned for over a year on charges he claims are politically motivated, has also called for judicial commissions to investigate violent protests on May 9 last year and Nov. 26 this year, which the government says involved his party supporters.
Known for taking hard-line political positions, Khan formed a seven-member committee to negotiate with the government. This was done amid growing concerns he may face trial by the military for allegedly inciting attacks on sensitive security installations during violent protests following his brief detention last year in a graft case.
“Since some members of the opposition could not join the talks today, we have decided to hold the next meeting on January 2,” Sadiq said at the end of the initial round of negotiations. “The opposition will also present a charter of demands in the meeting.”

He said the talks were held in a cordial environment, adding that it was vital to end political polarization in parliament and across the country.
The speaker requested Senator Irfan Siddiqui to read a joint press statement and urged people not to speculate excessively about the negotiations to ensure their success.
Siddiqui said both sides agreed parliament was the appropriate forum to resolve political differences and emphasized that the negotiation process should continue.
He mentioned the PTI had been asked to provide a written document outlining its demands to help set the tone for the talks.
Speaking to the media later, Khan’s close aide, Asad Qaiser, said the PTI team asked the government to release all political prisoners, including the former prime minister, and form a judicial commission with senior Supreme Court judges to probe the May 9 and Nov. 26 incidents.
“We should be allowed to hold a meeting with Imran Khan,” he said. “He is our leader. We will move forward with his instructions.”
Qaiser informed the government had said it would arrange the meeting, though he maintained it was not clear when would that happen.

The negotiations came days after Pakistan’s military announced prison sentences for 25 people involved in the May 9, 2023, protests, which PTI has demanded be investigated. The military said it had gathered “irrefutable evidence” against those prosecuted and reiterated its commitment to bringing the planners of the violence to justice.
The country has remained gripped by political unrest and uncertainty since Khan’s ouster from power through a parliamentary no-confidence vote, which has also exacerbated Pakistan’s economic hardships.
Senior government representatives have previously acknowledged that negotiations could offer a pathway out of the current political impasse. However, they have cautioned that it is too early to determine which of PTI’s demands might be addressed.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif on Sunday blamed the judiciary for delaying verdicts in the May 9, 2023, cases, which have so far led to the conviction of 25 supporters of former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party for attacking government buildings and military properties last year.

On Dec. 21, the Pakistan Army sentenced 25 people for participating in the violent protests that erupted in several Pakistani cities following Khan’s brief detention on corruption charges, resulting in damage to major military facilities and martyrs’ monuments in the country.

However, several suspects are also facing legal charges in anti-terrorism courts, with the military hoping for early verdicts in their cases, according to a statement announcing the sentencing of the 25 individuals, which described the rioting as “politically provoked violence.”

The PTI has denied any involvement in the violence, describing the May 9 incident as a “false flag” operation aimed at crushing the party.

“The judiciary created the biggest hurdle in this [the conviction of May 9 suspects] while this thing was allowed to linger for one and a half years,” Asif said while speaking to the media in London, the city he is currently visiting.

Describing the May 9 protests as a national problem, he said all the cases related to it required verdicts at the earliest.

The conviction of the 25 individuals followed a ruling by a seven-member Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan on Dec. 13, allowing military courts to share their verdicts. Prior to that, the court had unanimously declared last year that prosecuting civilians in military courts violated the Constitution.

Khan’s PTI party rejected the military’s announcement, with opposition leader Omar Ayub Khan saying they were “against the principles of justice.”

The sentencing of the 25 individuals also raises concerns about Khan, who faces charges of inciting attacks against the armed forces and may potentially be tried in a military court.

Earlier, Asif had regretted the delay in announcing the verdicts, saying that it “raised the morale of the accused and their facilitators.”

“Right now, only the workers, who were used [to generate violence], have been punished under the law,” he had said. “This will not end until the ones, who planned this terrible day, are not brought before the law.”