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Pakistan: Thaw in Hostilities as Ruling Coalition, Opposition Mull Talks

Pakistan's ruling alliance led by Shehbaz Sharif and the opposition headed by Imran Khan have remained at daggers drawn since Khan's party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) [Pakistan Movement for Justice] was removed from power in April 2022.
Sputnik
In what appeared to be a breaking of the ice, the Pakistani government has proposed to form a parliamentary committee to initiate political dialogue between the country's ruling alliance and the opposition to hold polls in Punjab province and other parts of the country at the same time.

The formation of the 10-member parliamentary committee came after Pakistan's Supreme Court ordered the government to hold talks with political parties over the date for Punjab polls.

The elections were originally scheduled to be held this month. But the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) postponed them to October, forcing the supreme court to take suo motu notice of the matter.

Earlier this month, a bench of the supreme court ruled that the polls would be held on 14 May.
World News
Pakistan Ruling Alliance Junks Holding Talks With Imran Khan
However, the government filed a report in the supreme court, citing a number of security threats to the nation and applied for elections to be held simultaneously in the country.
Meanwhile, in the latest development, the proposal to form a parliamentary committee for talks between the ruling alliance and the opposition came after Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar and Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique met Senate Chairman Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani.
Sanjrani then confirmed the development in a letter to PTI politician Shahzad Waseem and Leader of the House Muhammad Ishaq Dar, details of which were made public by local media on Thursday.

Sanjrani wrote that the government and its allies approached him to "facilitate the initiation of political dialogue to address the ongoing political and economic crisis, including the holding of general elections. In this context, the constitution of a committee comprising members of the Senate belonging to both sides of the aisle has been proposed."

On the other hand, the Imran Khan-led PTI party announced it had formed a committee of three of its members to begin talks with the Sharif-led alliance over the issue of holding polls on the same date.
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