AS confusion persists over the prospects of dialogue between the Government and the Opposition PTI, former Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry has aptly proposed that the Government should take a step forward, while the PTI needs to step back to create space and environment for a meaningful dialogue. The former PTI leader, who forms part of the self-proclaimed National Dialogue Committee, suggested the Prime Minister should take confidence-building measures and release the five senior PTI leaders languishing in Kot Lakhpat jail on parole, to enable them to lead and participate effectively in the dialogue process.
There is no doubt that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has repeatedly made offers of dialogue to the Opposition and Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq too has expressed readiness to mediate but no progress could be made towards meaningful reconciliation mainly because of the confused policy of the PTI on the issue of dialogue and street agitation. A number of times, announcements were made and committees formed to initiate the process of talks but the position was reversed almost instantly on different pretexts. Apart from Fawad Chaudhry and his like-minded colleagues, many senior leaders of the party including those incarcerated in Kot Lakhpat jail (Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Dr Yasmin Rashid, Omer Sarfraz Cheema, Ejaz Chaudhry and Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed) are expressing their preference for dialogue but hawks prevail. Now again, chairing a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, the Prime Minister remarked that if the Opposition is ready for talks, the Government is definitely read for the purpose, adding harmony among all political parties was necessary for the progress and prosperity of the country. However, he believed there should be no "blackmailing" under the guise of talks and dialogue could only move forward "in light of legitimate matters".
The same day, political leaders, including ruling PML-N stalwarts, from across the spectrum called for dialogue and restraint to achieve stability in the country, saying that political confrontation was causing instability and violence. These leaders were speaking in the backdrop of readiness expressed by the Opposition leaders during a 'national conference' organized by the Opposition Tehreek Tahafuz Ayeen-i-Pakistan (TTAP) who opined that the door to dialogue must never be closed in a democracy. However, the party's Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram rejected the Government's offer of dialogue citing instructions from the party supremo Imran Khan. The internal confusion of the party on the issue of dialogue further deepened with the statement of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi that the founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has delegated all authority regarding negotiations with the Government or launching a political movement to Mahmood Khan Achakzai and Senator Allama Nasir Abbas. He stated that the party's future political strategy would now be formulated in consultation with these leaders but giving a twist to the proposition added that another key directive from the PTI founder pertains to launching a street movement, for which practical preparations have already begun. Saner voices are calling for creation of a conducive environment for talks to begin and succeed but plans to proceed ahead with the planned country-wide protest on 08 January (at the call given by IK when the court sentenced him and his spouse in Toshakhana-II case) could add to the prevailing political tension and instability. Otherwise too, the talks are unlikely to produce any worthwhile positive result until and unless the two sides show flexibility in their stance and approaches. While the Government is seen as pushing the PTI to the wall through different tactics, the party is making some of the demands that are hard to accept like restoration of the Constitution (which effectively means roll back of the 26th and 27th constitutional amendments) and fresh elections. The extreme positions will benefit none as the Government needs stability to implement its agenda and the Opposition wants political space, which it can get only through talks and parliamentary politics and not street agitation. This is what the recurring experience shows.