ISLAMABAD: The first effort at negotiations between the government and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf ended without any progress though with a resolve to meet again.

Within twenty hours of the first message of the army suggesting that the stakeholders reach a solution, an intransigent PTI chief Imran Khan agreed to talks and by Wednesday midnight the party’s five-member team was huddled up with a government team at a conference room at a five-star hotel.

Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Javed Hashmi, Dr Arif Alvi, Asad Umer and Jahangir Tareen met Governor Punjab Chaudhry Sarwar, federal ministers Zahid Hamid, Pervez Rashid, Ahsan Iqbal and retired Lt General Abdul Qadir Baloch at the hotel.

The security personnel standing outside confirmed that the two sides were talking to each other behind the closed doors.

Know more: Dharna deadlock: Govt, PTI negotiators begin talks to end crisis

When the two sides came out, Qureshi told the media that PTI had presented its six demands to the government team and that the latter would provide a response by Thursday.

Though the meeting appeared to end in a deadlock, the two sides appeared hopeful and friendly towards each other.

Ahsan Iqbal went so far as to say that everyone collected there for the meeting wanted the best for Pakistan, which was a nuclear power, and that whatever they all decided would be in the country’s interest.

Asad Umer and Alvi also expressed similar sentiments.

Only Information Minister Pervez Rashid appeared a bit tense and presented a stern outlook.

The next meeting will take place on Thursday.

The PTI team went into the talks with a six-point agenda which began with the seemingly impossible condition of the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. These conditions were made public by Khan himself in his first speech of the evening at the dharna.

Speaking for the first time on Wednesday evening, after a second message from the army for a resolution of the prevailing crisis had been made public, the PTI chief finally agreed to talk to the government though he stuck to his mantra that the dialogue would take place on the condition that Prime Minister Sharif resigns.

In addition he asked for fresh elections, electoral reforms, a neutral caretaker set-up formed with the consensus of all parties, the resignation of the existing Election Commission officials and the punishment of those who helped Sharif rig the 2013 election.

This six-point agenda was announced after Khan said that “a democratic party was ready for talks with Nawaz Sharif”.

However, Khan did not clarify any of the questions thrown up by his demands – as to how he wanted to negotiate with a government if he wanted the government’s head to resign or what he wanted first, electoral reforms or fresh elections.

Nonetheless, it appeared to be a baby step forward.

This announcement came after a quiet morning and afternoon during which the PTI crowds were missing from the hot and shelter-less Constitution Avenue and there was little news of the PTI chief.

Away from the television cameras, he spent the day at his Banni Gala residence, re-charging himself for his Azadi march. Besides catching up on his sleep, Khan, it is said, held discussions with some party leaders.

A party insider told Dawn that some of those he spoke to suggested that there was no harm in talking to the government in order to find out what the latter could offer.

Others were opposed to this idea, as they felt it would break the momentum built up by the dharna.

It was also during the afternoon that the party vice chairperson Shah Mehmood Qureshi created a bit of a ruckus by telling a television channel that the party was ready for talks. However, he had to backtrack and state that the party continued to stand by its call for the resignation of Sharif after an irritated Khan asked him to clarify his statement. .

This added to the confusion over PTI’s change of heart – if there was one at all.

However, the tension finally ended when the protesters returned to Constitution Avenue in the evening, after rest and recreation.

After announcing his six conditions, Khan informed the crowds that PTI “has formed a committee to carry out the talks”.

While Khan was still speaking, Maryam Nawaz Sharif, the prime minister’s daughter, tweeted defiantly, “U can spend your whole life in the container, but Nawaz Sharif will NOT resign.”

Her words indicated the government’s mood.

Undeterred, the former cricketer kept hurling challenges at the prime minister, to the delight of his followers.

“You resign, make an independent committee which investigates rigging in the last elections of May 2013 and then we can proceed,” he said at one stage, addressing Sharif.

He kept reiterating that the dialogue process could not be successful till Sharif’s resignation.

“I believe that after the re-elections, a new Pakistan will be established,” he claimed.

He promised the crowd, which seemed smaller in size than the one the night before, that he would sleep in his container till the prime minister resigned and added that he and his workers would rename the D Chowk as Azadi Chowk.

However, the festive mood of the gathering was no less than the previous night.

Published in Dawn, August 21st, 2014