PTI leader Senator Shibli Faraz has disclosed that party chief Imran Khan has given the go-ahead for talks with the COAS and DG ISI on one hand, and the government parties on the other. The concept might be inchoate at the moment, for tripartite talks never work, unless one pastry combines with another, in which case the talks might as well be bilateral. Another problem in principle is that the military are not supposed to become involved in politics. That they have been was conceded by then COAS Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa at the time of his retirement, but he also said it was now out of it. Even if one concedes Mr Khan’s thesis, that the involvement continues, that it failed to stop the PTI in the February election from obtaining the most seats; the fact remains that it is being dragged into politics again. It is difficult to see how the military can engage in talks separately from the government, and remain within the ambit of the Constitution.
While the idea of talks among the political parties has been long on the table, there seems to be more movement than if this was merely in the background. While Senator Irfan Siddiqui made a talks offer on behalf of the PML(N), PTI leader Shahid Afridi included the military in the talks panel. Some PML(N) figures indicated their distrust of the PTI as being sufficient to prevent any talks being held. This included figures like Kh Saad Rafique and Rana Sanaullah, while PPP leader Faisal Karim Kundi seemed inimical to the idea. The PTI reaction is yet to be gauged, because the idea of talks with the other parties has been rejected time and again by Mr Khan, who has called them ‘thieves and dacoits’. His being behind bars is another obstacle, and his hint that the right scene for negotiations must be set (that he be released) will give the impression that imprisonment has finally forced him to talk.
That would run counter to the narrative that he is reconciled to jail life. The timing of the agreement and the by-elections should not be ignored. The PTI and the ruling coalition have apparently reached a stalemate. The only way out is for the two (not three) sides to hold talks. And for once, those talks must focus on what is good for the country, not on what is good for the parties.
