Interior minister, NA speaker discuss PTI’s ‘attitude’ during talks with govt – Pakistan

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq met in Islamabad on Sunday, with the PTI’s “attitude” during the recent talks with the government coming under discussion.

After more than a year of heightened tensions between the government and the PTI, the two sides commenced dialogue in the last week of December to bring down political temperatures. But despite weeks of negotiations, the dialogue process stalled on major issues — the formation of two judicial commissions and the release of PTI prisoners.

The PTI boycotted the fourth meeting this week, calling off talks over a delay in the government forming judicial commissions to probe the protests of May 9, 2023 and Nov 26, 2024. While the government renewed the invitation to the PTI to rejoin the negotiation process by proposing a parliamentary committee, the latter rejected the offer.

Naqvi met with the NA speaker today, where both discussed matters of mutual interest and the overall situation in the country, a statement by the interior ministry said.

It added that the “PTI’s attitude, despite the positive progress made by the government for negotiations,” was also discussed during the meeting.

The interior minister lauded Sadiq’s efforts in taking along “all the opposition and government parties together”, the statement added.

“Ayaz Sadiq has played a commendable role in bringing together the government and opposition parties,” Naqvi was quoted as saying.

The government and the opposition’s negotiation committees comprised members from various parties from both sides. Politicians from the PML-N, PPP, MQM-P, PML-Z, and Balochistan Awami Party represented the ruling coalition. On the other hand, leaders of the PTI, Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen and Sunni Ittehad Council were part of the opposition team.

Naqvi and Sadiq also expressed their satisfaction with the “improving economic situation” of the country, the interior ministry stated, adding that they also discussed steps taken by the government to solve public issues.