PTI Forms Three-Member Committee to Initiate Dialogue on Ongoing Political Crisis

PTI Forms Three-Member Committee to Initiate Dialogue on Ongoing Political Crisis.

PTI Forms Three-Member Committee to Initiate Dialogue with Jamaat-i-Islami on Ongoing Political Crisis in Pakistan Following JI Chief's Consensus Offensive; PPP Also Forms Three-Member Body to Persuade Allies to Join Talks on All Issues Including Elections; Emphasis Placed on Dialogue Between Political Parties to Prevent Catastrophe: Dawn Editorial"

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party announced on Sunday the formation of a three-member committee to hold a dialogue with the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) party on the ongoing political crisis in the country. This move comes a day after the JI chief, Sirajul Haq, launched a "consensus offensive" aimed at bringing the government and opposition closer.

According to a statement issued by the PTI, the committee will consist of PTI leaders Pervaiz Khattak, Ejaz Chaudhry, and Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed. The committee's objective is to hold talks with JI in order to find a way out of the current political impasse.

This development follows the JI chief's meetings with PTI Chairman Imran Khan and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at their residences in Lahore on Saturday. During these meetings, Haq suggested that a committee should be set up to develop a larger consensus for holding elections in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and eventually the whole country.

Both PM Shehbaz and Imran appreciated Haq’s efforts and assured him of their full cooperation, agreeing that elections were the way forward to pull the country out of prevailing economic, political, and constitutional crises.

Sources in the JI told Dawn that as part of his efforts to bring all parties to the negotiating table, Haq also planned to meet Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Asif Zardari after Eid and expected a breakthrough in the next two weeks.

Earlier this week, former president and PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari also suggested all political parties sit together and develop a consensus on a single date for the elections. For this purpose, the PPP has formed a three-member body, comprising Senator Yousuf Raza Gillani, Federal Minister for Commerce Syed Naveed Qamar, and PM’s Adviser on Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan Qamar Zaman Kaira, to persuade allies in the government to start the process with the Imran-led party.

The main task of the three PPP leaders is to persuade the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) to hold talks with PTI on all issues, including elections, to end the ongoing crises.

In recent days, there has been an emphasis on dialogue between all the political parties in the country. A Dawn editorial today said: “Sit at a table and talk. Break bread together; break the ice. That’s all that the nation needs its key leaders to do. The steep slope that this country has been hurtling down leads only to disaster. Much damage has already been done; there may not be much time left before an all-out catastrophe becomes imminent.”

The editorial also stated that politics involved compromise, adding that "inflexible egos have no place in a democratic political system." It is hoped that the formation of these committees will be a step in the right direction towards resolving the ongoing political crisis in Pakistan.