ISLAMABAD
\nPTI leader Fawad Chaudhry said on Sunday that his party wanted negotiations with the government (on the impasse on elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) to be successful but at the same time contended that it had a \u201cstrategy\u201d in place if the talks failed.
\n\u201cPTI wants the success of negotiations [with the government], but it has formulated a strategy in case of failure,\u201d the former minister tweeted.
\n\u201cIt is not possible for the PTI to sit silently if the Constitution is considered as a piece of garbage and the public as insects,\u201d he said, calling on the people to prepare for a \u201cmovement\u201d.
\n\u201cThe movement is starting tomorrow with rallies in Lahore, Islamabad, and Peshawar, culminating into a historic long march,\u201d Fawad added.
\nTalks between the government and the PTI commenced earlier this week on advice of the Supreme Court. The development was seen as a breakthrough in the weeks-long deadlock on elections between the ruling coalition and the opposition.
\nAfter two rounds of talks, the parties are now expected to hold the final round of negotiations on May 2.
\nHowever, it seems Tuesday will be a tough day for the PTI and government negotiators, with the former seeking the dissolution of assemblies before May 14 and the latter appearing in no mood to entertain this demand.
\nThe bonhomie on display throughout this week between the two sides was jolted by the late-night raids on former Punjab chief minister Parvez Elahi\u2019s home.
\nWith both major parties refusing to budge from their respective stances, cha-nces that the dialogue will yield positive results are starting to look \u201cvery slim\u201d.
\nSpeaking to party workers on Satur\u00acday night, former prime minister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan said his party would be ready to discuss the election date only after the dissolution of the NA before May 14, the cut-off date for elections in Punjab as per the apex court\u2019s April 4 order.
\n\u201cThe PTI\u2019s negotiating team will meet the government\u2019s team for the third round on Tuesday (May 2) and present its demand to dissolve the National Assembly before May 14, otherwise [PTI] will go ahead with the Punjab general elections as per Supreme Court\u2019s order,\u201d Imran said and added the PTI would also approach the apex court for earliest general elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as the constitutional time frame of 90 days had already passed.
\nThe PTI chief said the people of Pakistan were coming out for peaceful protests under the banner of the PTI as they were waiting for elections. \u201cIf elections will be denied, these people will not stay peaceful and Pakistan may face a situation worse than Sri Lanka,\u201d Imran said in a warning to the powers that be.
\nThe former premier also announced Labour Day rallies in Lahore, Islamabad, and Peshawar on May Day (Monday) with a secondary objective: \u2018Save Constitution (Save Pakistan)\u2019. Imran said he would lead the Lahore rally from Liberty to Nasser Bagh, while Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Pervez Khattak will lead rallies in Islamabad and Peshawar, respectively.
\nSeparately, in a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at Model Town a day earlier, the senior leadership of the PML-N decided it would not back down from its demand for simultaneous polls across the country.
\nDuring the meeting, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar updated the party leaders on the status of talks with the opposition as the huddle, also attended by Nawaz Sharif, resolved that the coalition government will stick to its demand for timely elections, a party insider said while talking to Dawn.
\nHe said the meeting resolved that all coalition parties especially the JUI-F would be taken on board regarding the final decision on the demands of the PTI. The source was of the view that in case of an agreement between the ruling coalition and the PTI on polls, even though \u201cchances are slim\u201d, party supremo Nawaz Sharif will try to win Maulana Fazlur Rehman over.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry said on Sunday that his party wanted negotiations with the government (on the impasse on elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) to be successful but at the same time contended that it had a \u201cstrategy\u201d in place if the talks failed. \u201cPTI wants the success of negotiations [with the government], […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":315837,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-328512","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n