With Government And Opposition Talking Past Each Other, Dialogue Appears To Be a Pipe Dream

ISLAMABAD: With the military leaders rejecting the very idea of holding talks with opposition political parties and Muslim League government and Pakistan Tehrik-a-Insaf leaders talking past each other, the idea of holding talks to bring down the political temperate in the country appears to be a pipe dream.
In such a situation the exercise to formulate conditions for talks by a political non entity like self-styled Nation Dialogue Committee appeals to no one in the country. National Dialogue Committee is comprised of politically discredited former leaders of PTI, Like Fawad Chaudhry, Imran Ismail and Shahzad Waseem and as of today even their own party men don’t listen to what they are saying. Not Surprising PTI leaders have disowned the activities of National Dialogue Committee.
The idea of holding talks to bring down the political temperature seems to assume a life of its own on the basis of thinking that the existing political tensions are greatly undermining national unity in the face of growing threat levels on Eastern and Western borders.
However Pakistani military leaders have rejected the idea of military holding back channel negotiations with Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI). Director General of ISPR has stated in his latest presser that it was the business of the government and opposition parties to decide whether they want to hold talks between themselves or not.
Early this week Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif authorized National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq to lead formal negotiations with PTI. However, the government has set a strict condition that it will only engage with elected representatives of PTI, excluding non-elected figures.
Prime Minister has also stated that the talks should cover only those issues which fall within the confines of law. He said that talks should not become the basis of blackmail.
PTI has demanded release of political prisoners ahead of talks. The party is also insisting that no talks could succeed without the direct involvement of jail founder of PTI, Imran Khan.
PML-N leaders see PTI as a divided political party which has reached a “political dead end”. Conversely, PTI leadership, including Shah Mahmood Qureshi, accuses the government of violating constitutional rights, making compromise impossible.
Ironically, no one has so far put forward any proposal regarding the agenda of the proposed talks–neither PTI nor PMLN government has shown any clarity about what exactly the government and opposition are likely to discuss even if they gather under one roof.
PTI’s politics strictly revolve around its founder and the fact that he is behind bars–a fact which has stalled the functioning of PTI as a political party. PTI’s participation in house business in the parliament id negligible. It seems the whole party is glued to Adiyala Jail where its leader is serving a jail sentence.
PTI accuses PMLN government of using harsh tactics and repression by the state machinery in order to make the opposition non functional. The government on the other hand appears completely oblivious to the state of political and civil freedoms in the society. The government seems to be turning a deaf ear to what opposition has to say as how state machinery is treating its members.
Political observers say that in such a situation the idea of holding political talks could be described as a non-starter.
For some times in early 2025 there appeared a ray of hope when National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq and some of the PTI members opened a backchannel between themselves. The back channel allowed the two sides to at least exchange views.
The process was stalled after the government demanded PTI shift away from its “politics of agitation”.The efforts by Speaker Ayaz Sadiq and some PTI parliamentarians showed brief promise, but these were reportedly blocked by Imran Khan, who remained reluctant to engage with government representatives.
Political observers are of the view that deep down in the hearts of those who are running the affairs of the government, there is a profound wish that talks should be initiated with PTI and especially with Imran Khan.
But the government seems to be hostage of its own logic. For them Imran Khan has crossed the Red line by provoking his followers to attack military installations on May 9, 2023. Even in jail Imran Khan has taken a very tough position towards government and other state functionaries.