
The third round of negotiations between the Pakistani government and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party is set to take place on January 16, 2025, according to a report by Dawn on Monday. The session will be overseen by National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq at the Pakistani Parliament House, as per a notice from the National Assembly Secretariat.
Vile negotiations on serious issues evolved after almost a year-long hiatus from the stage that saw a lot of bitterness and mudslinging through the PTI and the establishment. Shah Mehmood Qureshi said, "If we talk to Nawaz Sharif, the wrong election policies can be stopped by the competition, and if we talk to Imran Khan, a brave politician will emerge." He said Khan's arrest last year had dramatically escalated tension that had already been brewing between the PPP and the PTI after Hijazi's dismissal.
Pervading political turmoil inspired PTI to create a five-member committee team within PTI to further its parliamentary approach to negotiation processes to activate government officials in the future. Periphrastically, the prime minister nominated a committee comprising all the ruling coalition members to enter into negotiations with the opposition administered by him.
First-round talks were held on December 23, 2024, followed by the second meeting on January 2, 2025. Pending conclusive discussions, the party leadership of PTI still needed more rounds of discussions because it needed to finalize a complete list of demands from Imran Khan, as reported by a local source, Dawn. The MNA of PTI Asad Qaiser justified the dedication of his party to the negotiation process, showing faith in the hope that the deadlock could be broken in the next round of talks.
The point of conflict is whether the PTI can have unfettered access to Khan when he is still in jail. It has brought repeated complaints from the PTI that their negotiating team, led by senior party leaders, can't meet Khan without guard supervision. This was the conflict that will finally make the speaker arrange a meeting with Khan, which was expected to take place on the weekend. Additionally, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur participated in a one-on-one session with the PTI leader before joining the broader delegation.
At the outset of negotiations, PTI outlined two main demands: the release of political prisoners and the formation of a judicial commission to investigate the violent crackdowns on May 9 and November 26, 2024. These demands remain central to the ongoing talks, as PTI pushes for accountability and the restoration of political rights.