Govt's response may convince PTI to resume talks: Rana Sanaullah

• Govt's response to be assertive and politically relevant: Sanaullah.
• Says PTI to receive response if it does not attend next meeting.
• "Dialogue process should continue until reaching logical conclusion."

Prime Minister's Adviser on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah has expressed optimism that the coalition government's response to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) charter of demands may convince the latter to return to the dialogue table.

"Government's response will be assertive and politically relevant," claimed Sanaullah speaking on Geo News programme "Jirga" on Saturday.

Despite incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan's instruction to his party to call off talks with the government, the PM's aide remained hopeful that both sides would attain a conclusive outcome if the former ruling party decided to sit at the dialogue table instead of searching for excuses.

Sanaullah elaborated on the future course of action following the PTI's announcement, saying that the government's negotiation committee will hand over its response to the Imran Khan-founded party regardless of whether it is attending the next round of dialogue scheduled for January 28 or not.

Pointing to a partial consensus, he said some of PTI's demands could be accepted, while others may be rejected, which is a part of every negotiation. 

"It may be possible that PTI may consider or agree upon resuming talks [after reviewing the government's response]," said the PM's aide.

He, however, stressed that the dialogue process should continue between both sides until they reach a logical conclusion.

On PTI's demands, Sanaullah said the continuation of dialogue was crucial to find answers to many questions: what would be terms of reference [for the judicial commission] and whether certain personalities recommended by the former ruling party would agree on leading the probe.

To a question whether the PTI founder called off the talks following the verdict in the Al-Qadir Trust case, Sanaullah rejected the notion, saying that the judgment has no relevance to the negotiations.

He elaborated that the government has never stopped the opposition party from delivering political statements and running movements alongside holding negotiations. He added that both sides had mutually agreed that external developments would not harm the dialogue process.

The Imran-founded party "called off" the negotiation process due to “non-cooperation” of the government and delay over the formation of a judicial commission to probe the May 9, 2023, violent protests and a crackdown on party protesters in Islamabad on November 26 last year.

The PTI and the ruling coalition have been engaged in talks aimed at defusing political tensions in the country for nearly a month. Both sides have held three rounds of talks so far.

Conflicting statements from the embattled former ruling party regarding the negotiations continued with PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, a day earlier, saying ongoing talks were put on hold, a shift from the party’s earlier announcement of calling them off.

The dialogue ended in deadlock as the PTI was of the view that they would attend the fourth round of talks only if the government formed the judicial commission while the ruling alliance stated that they would give their written response to the PTI’s demand in the next round of negotiation.

However, seemingly backtracking on his previous statement, Barrister Gohar — a day earlier — said that the party could reconsider its decision to call off the dialogue, but the government must announce the formation of judicial commission.

Separately, PTI secretary general Salman Akram Raja reiterated that his party would not participate in the January 28 session, summoned by  National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq.

Speaking to journalists outside Adiala jail after meeting the jailed PTI founder, he said that he held an "extensive discussion" with Imran about the talks, noting that the government "ridiculed" his party's charter of demands.

"We want to let the people of Pakistan know what happened on May 9 and November 26," he added.