Opposition alliance Tehreek Tahafuz Ayeen-i-Pakistan (TTAP) decided on Thursday to respond positively to any offers for dialogue by the government, sources said.
The decision was taken as prominent members of the alliance met at an Iftar gathering at the residence of TTAP leader Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar in Islamabad, and later held a meeting over the prevailing situation in the country.
The gathering was attended by National Assembly Opposition Leader Mehmood Khan Achakzai, Senate Opposition Leader Allama Raja Nasir Abbas, PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja, former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, former National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser, Sunni Ittehad Council’s (SIC) Sahibzada Hassan, and others.
One of the leaders who attended the meeting told the media on condition of anonymity that during the discussion after Iftar, Abbas shared that a “key figure from the ruling PML-N” had contacted him and offered talks.
He quoted Abbas saying that the person from the ruling party gave the assurance that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif wanted to settle issues and resolve tensions between the government and the opposition.
The sources further said that the person had also assured that the PM “will never backtrack from his words if anything is decided”. “It was then unanimously decided that the TTAP would give a positive response to any offer for talks by the government,” he said.
The development comes three days after PML-N Senator and PM’s aide Rana Sanaullah, in a Senate address, extended an olive branch to the PTI to advance the ‘Charter of Democracy’, signed between the PPP and the PML-N in 2006, and asked opposition lawmakers to rejoin parliamentary standing committees to kick-start the political process for reconciliation.
“Let us sit together to strengthen and take forward the charter of democracy,” Mr Sanaullah said, adding that the government was ready for a dialogue to strengthen democracy and avoid confrontation and deadlock.
It was not the first time the ruling coalition has invited the PTI for talks. In November and December last year, the government leaders made similar proposals to the opposition to break the political deadlock; however, these offers did not lead to anything substantial.
To break the political deadlock, the government and the opposition had earlier engaged in a dialogue, following the formation of respective committees in December 2024. However, the talks collapsed after multiple rounds, as both sides refused to soften their stance. In these talks, the PTI had demanded the formation of two separate judicial commissions to probe the May 9, 2023, and Nov 26, 2024, incidents, as well as the release of jailed PTI leaders and workers. The TTAP also issued a statement after the gathering in Islamabad and warned that any criminal negligence with regard to the health of Imran could further aggravate the political crisis in the country.
The statement said TTAP leaders demanded that Imran be provided immediate medical treatment at Shifa International Hospital, be examined by his personal doctors, and that restrictions on his access to his lawyers and meetings with family members be lifted forthwith.