PTI’s civil disobedience call bound to fall flat, says Sanaullah

PM’s aide Rana Sanaullah said on Friday that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) call for a “civil disobedience movement is bound to fall flat” and ruled out “conditional talks” with the former ruling party tabling “non-negotiable” demands.

“We haven’t shut the door on negotiations,” said Adviser to Prime Minister on Political Affairs Sanaullah speaking on Geo News programme ‘Naya Pakistan’, adding that they are ready for political talks with the PTI to resolve dispute on contentious matters.

A day ago, incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan — who has claimed to have a “trump card” — had announced on X (formerly Twitter) a five-member dialogue committee comprising Omar Ayub Khan, Ali Amin Gandapur, Sahibzada Hamid Raza, Salman Akram Raja and Asad Qaiser.

He also warned the government of launching a “civil disobedience” movement if his demands — judicial inquiry of the May 9, 2023, riots and November 26 crackdown on PTI protesters and release of its “political prisoners” — are not met.

The PTI’s much-hyped protest in Islamabad, aimed at securing the PTI founder’s release who has been behind bars for more than a year, culminated in party’s hasty retreat after the government’s midnight crackdown on the protesters.

Sanaullah questioned how talks could be initiated under certain conditions. Terming the PTI demands “non-negotiable”, Sanaullah suggested that the Imran Khan-founded party should approach courts to seek bail of their inmates.

Commenting on the crackdown on PTI protesters, he asked the former ruling party to join the “probe which is already underway” into its protests in the federal capital which saw fierce clashes between the party workers and law enforcers.

Sanaullah predicted that the opposition party’s civil disobedience call is bound to fall flat as the party suffered an “irreparable political loss” following the Islamabad protest fiasco.

To a question about mounting pressure from the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) on the coalition government to approve madrassa registration bill [Societies Registration (Amendment) Act, 2024], he replied that grievances of the Maulana Fazlur Rehman-led party will be addressed by the government.

Earlier today, JUI-F Secretary-General Abdul Ghafoor Haideri warned the incumbent government of staging a march on Islamabad if the Societies Registration (Amendment) Act, 2024, related to the registration of madrassas, did not get President Asif Ali Zardari’s nod.

He confirmed that the government was committed to approving the legislation as it was part of an agreement finalised with the JUI-F for the passage of the 26th Constitutional Amendment.

The Societies Act had been passed by the national Assembly and Senate in October and its enactment was part of an agreement between the government and the religio-political party in support of the 26th Amendment.