PPP Vice President Sherry Rehman. Photo: Facebook/ File
The Tehreek-e-Tahafuz-e-Ain Pakistan (TTAP) on Friday accused a member of the government negotiating team, PPP Vice President Sherry Rehman, of violating the agreement reached for the talks, saying the opposition had not agreed to postpone its long march unconditionally.
The first round of talks between the government and opposition concluded earlier today, with the two sides scheduled to meet again at 2pm on Saturday in the National Assembly (NA) speaker’s chamber.
Both sides remained tight-lipped about the proceedings, with no details emerging about the negotiations. However, TTAP spokesperson Akhunzada Hussain Yousafzai accused Rehman of breaching the understanding reached between the two sides to keep details of the talks confidential.
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“We strongly condemn her statement. A senior parliamentarian like her should not have acted irresponsibly,” he told Express News.
Yousafzai said the opposition alliance had presented its demands to the government delegation, which had also conveyed its concerns to the opposition.
“We have sought time to consult on the matter,” he said.
He said he could not share details of the negotiations as both sides had agreed that the proceedings would not be made public.
Yousafzai said the details of the talks with the government delegation had been shared with opposition leader Mahmood Khan Achakzai during a meeting, which also discussed the future course of action.
Earlier, Rehman said the PPP’s position was that the PTI would have to end its long march unconditionally.
“Not postpone it, not suspend it, not put it on hold — it has to be ended because this is no way,” she said, adding that there had been no reduction in violence during the long march.
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“A critical situation is unfolding in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Our people are being martyred, policemen and soldiers are being martyred,” she said.
“The PPP has always maintained that terrorism is our red line. Mohtarma [Benazir Bhutto’s] martyrdom is before you, so this is a red line for us,” the PPP leader said, adding that the party did not hold long marches for an individual in any case.
Asked about the discussions and demands during the negotiations, Rehman said she did not want to discuss them to avoid a trust deficit that already existed.
“We have told each other that we will give time to the discussions taking place at this stage. They will come back tomorrow, and whatever the final position is, we will present it to you through your medium,” she said.
She said the government and opposition sides would try to conclude the process by Saturday.
Clarifying her comments later in an interview on Naya Pakistan, she said: “My position was that there should be no outside talk on the details of the negotiations because of the existing trust deficit. There was a joint understanding that we should wait until tomorrow before divulging any specific details. If there are questions posed on talk shows, then the general stated party position can be used to answer such questions. It should be said that negotiations will conclude tomorrow”.
Sherry emphasised that she had not made the statement that PTI had asked for more “time” for the ongoing negotiations, further adding that on the long march it was PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s stated position that democratic methods should be used to resolve issues through “political and constitutional means”, especially given the prevailing instability in the country, with an uptick in terrorism and militancy.
“Zardari and Bilawal both wish to resolve issues under a political framework so that political tensions do not rise further,” she underlined.
