• Rana Sana urges opposition to rejoin parliamentary panels; seeks end to political confrontation, deadlock
• Senate opposition leader asks govt not to complicate PTI chief’s health matters; says Imran not looking for deal
• Upper house approves criminal procedure code tweaks to prevent police from holding suspects incommunicado
ISLAMABAD: The federal government on Monday extended an olive branch to the PTI to advance the ‘Charter of Democracy’, signed between the PPP and the PML-N in 2006, and asked opposition lawmakers to rejoin parliamentary standing committees to kick-start the political process for reconciliation.
The offer was made by PML-N Senator and PM’s aide Rana Sanaullah in his Senate address, while responding to a speech by Opposition Leader Raja Nasir Abbas.
“Let us sit together to strengthen and take forward the charter of democracy,” Mr Sanaullah said, adding that the government was ready for a dialogue to strengthen democracy and avoid confrontation and deadlock.
“We are ready to sit with you for the betterment of the country,” he asserted, maintaining that parties in the current ruling coalition had stressed the need for talks, even when the PTI was in power.
This is not the first time the ruling coalition has invited the PTI for talks. In November and December last year, the government leaders made similar proposals to the opposition to break the political deadlock; however, these offers did not lead to anything substantial.
Speaking in the upper house, Mr Sanaullah blamed the incarcerated PTI leader, Imran Khan, for the impasse, claiming that the former prime minister’s “stubbornness” was a major hurdle in talks. The PM’s adviser said the opposition wanted a dialogue with those who did not want to engage in talks with it. “You don’t want to talk to those who desire so,” he said, adding that the government was ready to move forward democratically.
He said that the government wanted the PTI to become part of parliament by rejoining its standing committees, adding that the opposition was reluctant to become part of the political process.
Referring to Raja Nasir Abbas, the PML-N senator said that the opposition leader was part of the committee which refused to talk to the government at the direction of the top leadership.
He invited the opposition to collaborate on economic and democratic pacts, emphasising that negotiations occur between political parties, not through external forces.
To break the political deadlock, the government and the opposition had earlier engaged in a dialogue, following the formation of respective committees in December 2024. However, the talks collapsed after multiple rounds, as both sides refused to soften their stance. In these talks, the PTI had demanded the formation of two separate judicial commissions to probe the May 9, 2023, and Nov 26, 2024, incidents, as well as the release of jailed PTI leaders and workers.
Imran’s health
In his speech, Rana Sanaullah also touched upon the PTI’s concerns about the health of its jailed founder.
The PML-N senator said that the matter was before the court and the government had implemented its directions regarding his treatment. He claimed that the government included an eye specialist in the medical board at the PTI’s request, who examined Mr Khan in Adiala jail.
Commenting on the cases against the PTI founder, he said the courts were the appropriate forum and could grant relief in accordance with the law.
He said entry to Parliament House was sealed during the opposition sit-in earlier this month for “security reasons”. He said that the opposition had given a call to its workers to reach the protest venue, which prompted the police to make security arrangements.
‘Peaceful sit-in’
Earlier, in his speech, Raja Nasir Abbas regretted that parliament was shut down to confine opposition lawmakers who had been staging a “peaceful” protest on the premises. “Is this not an insult to parliament,” he asked.
He said that their only demand was that the PTI founder be provided treatment in the presence of his personal physicians and to the satisfaction of his family. “The founding PTI chairman neither wanted to come out of jail nor did his family make such a demand,” he said, adding that they only sought a fair trial for him.
Urging the need to restore confidence, the opposition leader requested that the government not transform this issue into a full-blown crisis and instead resolve the matter.
He assured that the opposition would never become part of any conspiracy to topple the government on the dictation of any dictator, even though the legitimacy of the incumbent setup was questionable. He also reiterated his demand that a parliamentary committee should be formed to meet the jailed ex-premier and examine his health conditions.
The proceedings also witnessed an uproar by the PML-N lawmakers when PTI Senator Mohsin Aziz raised questions about the purchase of a luxury jet by the Punjab government, which cost about Rs10 billion.
CrPC amendment
The upper house also passed some key legislation, including a landmark bill seeking to prevent the police from keeping individuals in custody without informing their family members.
The Code of Criminal Procedure Amendment Bill moved by PPP lawmaker Shahadat Awan sought to insert a new section, 59-A, to the Code of Criminal Procedure which read: “When a person is arrested and held in custody in a police station or other premises, he shall be entitled to have a family member, friend or other person known to him (or likely to take an interest in his welfare) informed by the officer in charge of the police station about his arrest.” It read that a police officer not below the rank of the superintendent of police may authorise a delay only if he has reasonable grounds to believe that informing the named person will lead to interference.
As per the bill’s statement of objects and reasons, the new section aimed to stop the abuse of process by the police officials who, in many cases, keep the suspect in custody without a formal arrest. It also said that an amendment to Section 431 and the insertion of 431A aimed to provide legal heirs the right to contest a case on behalf of the deceased to remove any kind of stigma.
The house also passed a bill to include the Senate opposition leader in the National Security Council. This bill was moved by Shahadat Awan.
Published in Dawn, February 24th, 2026
