Staff Reporter
Islamabad
The government’s negotiation committee and the opposi-tion’s Rahbar Committee’s deadlock persisted on Tuesday after the two sides held talks.
Rahbar Committee Convener Akram Durrani and De-fence Minister Pervaiz Khattak held a joint presser where Durrani said that the opposition was firmly standing by its demands.
“In the meeting, we presented them our demands for the prime minister’s resignation and fresh elections,” he said.
Khattak, who was also holding the press conference with Durrani, said that talks between the government and the opposition were still going on. “They have their own stance, we have ours,” he said. “We are trying to arrive at the middle ground.”
Khattak said that talks between the two sides would go on. He hoped that the deadlock between the two sides would end soon. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Tues-day that he was prepared to accept all ‘valid’ demands put forth by opposition parties except the Jamaat-e-Ulema-Islami Fazl’s (JUI-F) demand for the premier’s resignation, said sources. The premier reportedly made the remarks in a meeting with the Pervez Khattak-led team tasked to negotiate with opposition parties taking part in the ‘Azadi March’.
During the meeting, Khattak apprised the premier of last night’s meeting with the opposition’s Rahbar Com-mittee, headed by Akram Khan Durrani of the JUI-F, in Islamabad. PM Imran emphasised that the Khattak-led team was fully empowered to negotiate and instructed them to re-spond in a positive manner if the opposition displays se-riousness towards reaching a consensus.
