Pakistan Interior Minister, NA Speaker meet over failed govt-opposition talks

Pakistan's top interior official criticized the opposition party of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday for withdrawing from negotiations aimed at easing political tensions in the nuclear-armed nation of 240 million.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi met with National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq to discuss what they termed the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party's "attitude" during recent talks, according to a statement from the interior ministry.

The meeting follows PTI's boycott of negotiations last week after the government failed to meet its demands for judicial commissions to investigate two periods of civil unrest: the May 2023 protests following Khan's arrest and November 2024 demonstrations that resulted in civilian casualties.

While the government has proposed forming a parliamentary committee to address these concerns, PTI rejected the offer, maintaining its stance that only judicial inquiries would suffice.

"Ayaz Sadiq has played a commendable role in bringing together the government and opposition parties," Naqvi said, praising the speaker's mediation efforts despite their apparent failure.

Both Naqvi and Sadiq expressed satisfaction with what they described as Pakistan's "improving economic situation," though they did not provide specific indicators.

Why did talks fail?

The dialogue process, launched in December with high hopes, struggled from the start due to deep mistrust between both sides. Despite three rounds of talks, neither side showed any flexibility on core demands.

PTI insisted on judicial commissions to investigate what it calls politically motivated violence against its workers in May 2023 and November 2024. The government, while verbally supporting transparency, delayed concrete action on forming these commissions for over a month.

The collapse of talks leaves Pakistan's political crisis unresolved, with Khan's party effectively sidelined from the political process and thousands of its workers facing various charges. The government, while commanding a parliamentary majority, continues to face questions about its handling of political dissent.