Islamabad, January 31, 2025: Following PTI’s withdrawal from the negotiation process and the rejection of the Prime Minister’s offer for further talks, the government has officially ended the negotiation process. Senator Irfan Siddiqi, the spokesperson for the government’s negotiation committee and leader of the Pakistan Muslim League (N), confirmed on Friday that the negotiations with PTI have come to an end. He added that PTI exited the talks just as swiftly as they had entered. Their primary and only demand was the immediate release of Imran Khan and other leaders, which could only be achieved if they requested the Prime Minister to recommend to the President that their sentences be pardoned.
He clarified that there is no deadlock or breakdown in the negotiations; they are simply over. The deadline set by PTI has passed, and they have dissolved their committee, effectively ending the process.
Irfan Siddiqi explained that PTI’s charter of demands included several points that could have helped build trust. Many of these demands had already been given due consideration. He emphasized that there was no opposition to PTI’s request for a judicial commission, but legal counsel advised against such a move, as the matter was already being handled by the courts.
He further noted that, rather than providing a direct response, the government opted to suggest that PTI consult their own legal team. If they could convince us, the government was open to working together to find a middle ground.
Irfan Siddiqi also mentioned that efforts had been made to address several trust-building measures. When asked about the specifics of these efforts, he revealed they remain confidential. If these steps were to be disclosed, they would be shared through PTI, as the documents prepared were not final but rather a working paper, open to revision. Had negotiations continued, these documents could have been refined to include elements that might have been more agreeable to PTI.
He further expressed that, fundamentally, negotiations and dialogue are not in PTI’s DNA. PTI is built around protest, street politics, and confrontation, as seen on events like May 9, November 26, and their use of violence.
He noted that whenever PTI engaged in negotiations, they eventually withdrew in the same manner. Up until the morning of January 28, talks were ongoing, but six days ago, PTI announced that, following Imran Khan’s directive, negotiations would no longer continue.
