The government on Sunday expressed concerns about new demands made by PTI leader Asad Qaiser, namely the inclusion of an establishment representative in the ongoing negotiations, as well as the party’s reluctance to present a formal charter of demands.
While speaking on DawnNews TV programme ‘Doosra Rukh’ on Saturday, Qaiser had said that the party would not continue negotiations with the government to bring down the political temperature unless it was granted “uninterrupted access” to ex-premier and party founder Imran Khan for consultation, saying that only he could make any final decisions.
He added that there needed to be uninterrupted access to other incarcerated party leaders for political consultations. However, Qaiser, though not naming the establishment, said that the PTI had asked the government to include “the stakeholder” in the dialogue because “the thinking of those who have the real decision-making powers is yet to be seen”.
On the same programme, PPP leader Raja Pervez Ashraf said, “They (the establishment) are a part of the government, of course, the committee will talk with them as and where it is needed,” in response to a question about bringing an establishment representative on board for negotiations.
