ISLAMABAD: PTI chief Imran Khan’s hard stance has not only confused the government with his refusal to hold talks but also created friction within his own party.

Though he announced during his speech on Sunday night that the government should not send anyone to talk to him, a PTI insider also told Dawn that the party and the government were not in contact to defuse the prevailing political crisis and end the dharna.

This issue was also discussed in detail at a stormy closed-door meeting that the PTI leader held with his senior party leaders at his Banni Gala residence to work out the party’s plan of action.

The two-hour meeting, Dawn has learnt, took place in the afternoon. More or less the entire senior party leadership was present at this meeting that is said to have taken place between one and three in the afternoon.

From all accounts, it was a stormy session in which drastic options such as the PTI parliamentarians’ resignation from the National Assembly and the dissolution of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial assembly came up for discussion.

An official from within the PTI claimed that the chairman and a few ‘hawks’ were in favour of the resignation and the dissolution along with the announcement of the civil disobedience movement.

However, the others poured cold water over these ambitious plans.

Among others, the majority of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa parliamentarians, including its Chief Minister Pervez Khattak, opposed the move.

“It will be political suicide; this will not serve the party’s cause,” one participant was quoted as saying.

Those from the KP argued that the provincial government was the party’s best chance at proving their governance capabilities.

On the other hand, the hawks argued that the resignation from assemblies would strengthen their one-point agenda to push for fresh election.

However, once the KP lot opposed the move, even Mr Khan had to keep quiet and drop the issue of mass resignation.

This point had led to considerable tension and heated discussions, and as a result, when the idea of beginning a civil disobedience movement came up, no-one raised any objection.

The future moves were not the only issue discussed at the meeting. In addition, Mr Khan took many in the party to task for the lack of preparations for the rally and the thin crowds.

The meeting left the party leadership who attended it convinced that their chief was not in the mood for any compromise and that he would stick to his maximalist position.

This has reportedly upset a number of leaders.

Painting a bleak picture, the PTI source said he feared that the party chief might seriously consider storming the `Red Zone’ in the coming days, as he had threatened in his Sunday speech.

He also conceded that frustration was building up within the ranks and file of the party as some of the leaders and the parliamentarians (from the National Assembly and the provincial assembly) were in favour of a settlement though they feared that Mr Khan would not accept it.

This scenario was partially confirmed by the political secretary to the prime minister, Dr Asif Kirmani.

He conceded that there was no productive communication with the PTI leadership, before he added that the government was willing to talk to Mr Khan.

“Provided the PTI leaders agree, a special committee comprising lawmakers from different parties can be constituted for the talks,” he added.

“Demands come up once the two sides are ready to talk to each other. We are yet to reach that stage,” he claimed, before he added that short of the resignation of the prime minister and the dissolution of assemblies the government was ready to discuss anything.

Only time will tell how sincere the government is but this will only become clear if the PTI now agrees to talk to the government directly or through interlocutors.

Published in Dawn, August 18th, 2014