No commissions; no negotiations; PTI tells govt 

Opposition leader in National Assembly and PTI Negotiation Committee chief Omar Ayub has clarified that the PTI team will not sit with the government committee unless the government announces the formation of judicial commissions to probe the May 9 and Nov 24 incidents, reported 24NewsHDTV channel. 

Omar Ayub made it clear that PTI will not sit in the fourth negotiation session until the Judicial Commissions are formed. 

Opposition leader said, “We have made it clear that participation in the fourth session is subject to progress in the establishment of the Judicial Commission.” Omar Ayub said the government has not yet inform them about the new date of the negotiation session. 

As no headway has been made in talks between the government and the PTI despite the passage of so many days, the latter has said that there will be no further negotiations after January 28 if the former does not intimate it about its decision on the formation of judicial commissions on the May 9 and the November 27 incidents, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Wednesday.  

Earlier, the party had given the deadline of January 31 to the government. Sources told 24News HD TV channel that the PTI had conveyed to the government that on January 28, it would wait for its response, and in case no response was received on that day, the talks would be deemed to be over.  Sources informed that yesterday, the government had formed a sub-committee so that it could see to it whether the party’s demands could be met. They disclosed that on the other hand, the government committee, too, had hinted at responding to the PTI on January 28. 

The party leaders have threatened that if none of their demands were met, they will boycott the dialogue. 

Imran Khan not unnerved by Al-Qadir Trust case verdict: Sh Rasheed

Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad, a seasoned politician and Awami Muslim League (AML) chief said on Wednesday that the prison term handed to former prime minister and PTI founder Imran Khan in the Al-Qadir Trust case had failed to dampen his spirits.   

Speaking to the media outside the Supreme Court (SC) building in Islamabad, he said he did not want to talk about sensitive topics. 

He was of the view that the government’s talks with the PTI were meaningless unless judicial commissions were formed to probe the May 9 and November 27 incidents.

Rasheed also rejected reports that a political party had contacted him. 

Reporter: Tayyab Saif