PDM and PTI agree to hold elections one day, disagree on dissolve assemblies and date

Third phase of negotiations between the government and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf also ended without reaching any final decision. In the third session of both parties, it was agreed to hold elections across the country on the same day. However, when will the assemblies be dissolved A consensus could not be reached on the date of elections. Analysts say that the negotiations have not reached any direction, which means that the order of the Supreme Court to hold elections on May 14 is still standing.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has agreed to postpone the elections till August at the end of the third round of negotiations with the government team on the date of elections in Punjab.

This was disclosed by the sources when the PTI and government negotiation teams met for the third time to open the election knot.

It should be noted that the Supreme Court of Pakistan had ordered the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to hold elections in Punjab on May 14, but the government had refused to provide funds.

The negotiating teams of the ruling alliance Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) and the opposition PTI are engaged in talks to hold general elections at the same time, but both sides seem adamant on their positions. On some issues, flexibility is being shown by both sides to resolve the issue, due to which the issue seems to be moving towards a compromise.

A three-member delegation headed by Fawad Chaudhry and Senator Ali Zafar under the leadership of Shah Mehmood Qureshi reached Parliament House Islamabad for talks with the government team.

The government team includes former Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar, Law Minister Senator Azam Nazir Tarar, Railway Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique, Commerce Minister Naveed Qamar, Minister for National Food Security and Research Tariq Bashir Cheema and Pakistan Qaumi Movement (MQM- P)’s representative Kishore Zahra is included.

The PTI team handed over the draft eight-point recommendations to the PDM team. He will also send this draft to the Supreme Court through his lawyers.

Sources revealed that the opposition party has agreed to hold elections in the second or third week of August after the budget.

Demonstration of flexibility by the parties

During the press conference held after the negotiation period, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar confirmed that both the government and the opposition parties have shown flexibility in their stand.

He further said that both the negotiation teams will submit a report of the negotiations to their respective party leadership.

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said that, however, a mutually agreed date has not been agreed upon for conducting elections on the same day across the country.

He reiterated that elections should be held on a single day across the country under the caretaker set-up.

Meanwhile, Senator Yusuf Raza Gilani, the leader of the government team, described the progress made during the negotiations as satisfactory.

He said that both the parties have agreed to accept the election results to avoid any chaos after the elections.

The government team did not announce a specific date for the next round of talks.

PTI backed down

Speaking separately to the media after the talks, Tehreek-e-Insaf Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that he is ready to give more time to the government for ‘positive progress’.

Echoing PTI’s demands, Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that his party wants elections in Punjab on May 14 and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) thereafter.

Vice Chairman of Tehreek-e-Insaf said that PTI has demanded dissolution of Sindh and Balochistan Assemblies before May 14 during the negotiations.

Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that Tehreek-e-Insaf is ready to go to the National Assembly once again to give constitutional protection to the elections to be held after 90 days. It will happen because we don’t want it to become sand forever.

The head of PTI’s negotiating committee said that the negotiation process should not be used as a delaying tactic as the Supreme Court’s decision is in accordance with the constitution, so implement it.

The PTI leader confirmed that the PDM and his team have not yet agreed on the dates for dissolution of assemblies and polling day.