Crucial govt-opposition talks on JUI-F march today.

ISLAMABAD -- Formal talks between the government and the opposition on the issue of 'Azadi March' are set to begin on Friday (today) with both sides sticking to their guns on the demand for Prime Minister Imran Khan's resignation.

Sources in the opposition told Dawn that the government negotiating team headed by Defence Minister Pervez Khattak would hold talks with the 11-member Rehbar Committee having representation of all major opposition parties at the residence of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) leader Akram Khan Durrani on Friday evening.

Sources said that Mr Khattak, Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Pervez Elahi and acting President Sadiq Sanjrani on Thursday formally contacted the opposition leaders seeking an appointment.

It was Prime Minister Imran Khan's announcement on Wednesday that the marchers would be allowed to proceed with their protest that the opposition agreed to hold talks with the government's negotiating team.

An official handout issued by the PM Office after a meeting of Mr Khan with the seven-member government negotiating team on Wednesday had said the government with its firm belief in upholding democratic ideals had decided to allow the proposed 'Azadi March', 'if it takes place within the ambit of law and the Constitution as interpreted in the decisions of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and Islamabad High Court'.

Both sides stick to their positions on demand for PM's resignation

The announcement came in response to a demand of the opposition which had stated that the option of negotiations with the government was subject to the party being permitted to take out a peaceful 'Azadi March'.

Meanwhile, the negotiating team mostly comprising members of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) on Thursday met representatives of the coalition partners and took them into confidence on their contacts with the opposition parties and about the agenda of their talks with the Rehbar Committee.

Mr Khattak with different members of the negotiating team separately met leaders of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) and Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q).

Talking to reporters after his meetings with the allies, Mr Khattak once again made it clear that talks with the opposition would not be held on the issue of the prime minister's resignation. His statement came in an apparent reference to the reported statement of JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman after a meeting of the party's Shura in Sukkur in which...