Despite hopelessness, will sit on negotiations table with good intention: Qureshi

• PTI leader accuses PM Shehbaz of trying to "sabotage" talks.
• Qureshi claims PTI has been showing flexibility.
• "They are trying to put the judiciary under pressure,” he adds.

As the coalition government and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) gear up for the "final" round of negotiations tonight (Tuesday), Imran Khan-led party's Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that despite "hopeless" he "will sit at the negotiation table with good intentions”.

The former foreign minister accused Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif of trying to "sabotage" the talks on elections date, claiming that it was PTI which was showing flexibility.

The third round of talks is scheduled at 9pm today, and the government has already termed Khan’s demand for the dissolution of the assembly by May 14 “impractical”, while the PTI has not shown flexibility in this regard.

The talks are being held to end an impasse over the timing of general elections across the country, which has fuelled political tensions, with the Supreme Court also urging the political forces to negotiate and find out a solution to the prevailing political turmoil.

“The Constitution is being attacked as one group refuses to follow it,” the PTI leader said, warning that if there is no Constitution the federation will disintegrate.

“They are trying to put the judiciary under pressure,” the former foreign minister said. "Why is this happening just to delay elections?"

He went on to accuse the PDM government of having personal interests and claimed that the PTI’s decisions and moves are in the national interest.

Taking a jibe at Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s “childish” speech delivered on the floor of the National Assembly last week, Qureshi alleged that he was threatening the judges.

Bilawal last week suggested the initiation of “contempt of parliament proceedings” against the Supreme Court judges.

He criticised the apex court's directives regarding the release of funds for elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, saying that "contempt of parliament" had taken place.

"If it (higher judiciary) is undermining this House through its decisions, if it is trying to make us take an unconstitutional step through its decisions […] in my opinion, in the PPP’s opinion, contempt of parliament has happened," Bilawal said.

A day earlier, the former foreign minister also sought a “clear response” from the Pakistan Democratic Movement-led coalition government and warned of taking to the streets if negotiations ended up being an “exercise in futility”.