Islamabad (TDI): Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday constituted a high-level committee comprising key members of the coalition government to hold dialogue with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
The committee includes Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, Rana Sanaullah, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Naveed Qamar, Senator Irfan Siddiqui, Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Chaudhry Salik Hussain and Abdul Aleem Khan.
A committee — comprising leaders from PTI — to hold talks with the government, had already been formed by the PTI founder Imran Khan weeks ago.
The prime minister, on the other hand, formed the negotiating committee on recommendation of National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq.
Admiring Sadiq for his efforts in this regard, the PM expressed the hope that the national security and interest would be prioritised during the course of prospected talks.
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The development comes less than a day after the Sadiq confirmed reaching out to the PM for the formation of the committee, after assuring PTI of playing a role in mediation, which accused the government of not being serious about dialogue.
Sadiq said that he accepted PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Khan’s proposal to form a dialogue committee.
He added that Gohar had acknowledged the speaker’s role as the custodian of the house and requested that he actively participate in the discussions.
The development took place amid looming civil disobedience movement by PTI, which has warned it will launch the first phase of the campaign today (Sunday) if their demands are not met.
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PTI Chairman, while speaking to media outside a court in Islamabad on Saturday, said that “talks will take place as they are the only solution”.
He, however, said that PTI will also launch the civil disobedience movement.
