Negotiations between the government and the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) seem to have hit rock bottom. However the government committee expressed willingness to file an FIR of Model Town Tragedy and start action against the 19 persons (including the by now infamous Gullu Butt) nominated by the aggrieved party.
The government negotiations team comprising Ahsan Iqbal, Abdul Qadri Baloch, Ejaz-ul-Haq and Hyder Abbas Rizvi, held talks with the PAT leaders including Raheeq Ahmed Abbasi and Khurram Nawaz Gandapur.
Reacting to the government’s offer of ‘concessions’, the PAT President Abbasi asserted that his party could not make a retreat from its foothold based on the twin demands—dissolution of the government of Sharif brothers and conviction of the people accused in Model Town Tragedy.
Nothing short of the dissolution of the government, can set the matter right, the PAT leader added, saying, “They can accept nothing but the termination of the government.”
However shortly after making such a rigid statement, the PAT leaders maintained that “there was no harm in (holding) meaningful dialogues”.