After the talks between the government and PTI hit a snag, the PTI has decided not to form a judicial commission for the violent protests of May 9 and November 26, instead proposing alternative options, including the formation of a parliamentary committee to investigate the incidents.
Although the government’s negotiating team has not submitted its response to National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, sources familiar with the matter told Dawn that the government has consulted legal experts and senior lawyers, who have advised that judicial commissions cannot be formed for cases that have already been decided or are being tried in the courts.
Anticipating the government’s stance that the formation of a judicial commission is not possible, the PTI had boycotted the public dialogue process even before the fourth round of talks scheduled for January 28.
PTI had made participation in the fourth meeting conditional on the formation of a judicial commission to investigate the incidents of May 9, 2023 and November 26, 2024, however, the government decided not to dissolve the negotiation committee until January 31 and will wait for the opposition party’s ‘return’.
When contacted, the spokesperson for the government’s negotiation team, Senator Irfan Siddiqui, said that the government’s response could not be revealed, it was prepared after detailed deliberation and hard work.
In fact, PTI has not two, but 15 demands, as both the demands (judicial commission and release of PTI prisoners) have another 7 to 8 demands in the form of their Terms of Reference (TORs).
Asked whether the government had decided not to form a judicial commission, Irfan Siddiqui said alternative options had been suggested, including the formation of a parliamentary committee to investigate the May 9 and November 26 protests.
He said that through our responses, we were hopeful that almost all the issues of PTI’s demands would be resolved, but unfortunately the opposition party abandoned the negotiation process.
Irfan Siddiqui said that despite PTI’s civil disobedience and aggressive tweets, including attacks on the armed forces and personal abuse of the prime minister, the government continued the process with great patience.
He said that we tolerated it, now it is the responsibility of PTI to approach the speaker to restart the process.
Meanwhile, PTI’s interim chairman Barrister Gauhar blamed the government for the failure of the talks, saying that the talks ended because of the government.
PTI leader and Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Shibli Faraz said that if the government had formed a judicial commission, the facts could have come out. He claimed that a judicial commission can expose the facts after which the government cannot function even for a day.
