Govt, opposition begin talks to end political crisis.

Byline: Amir Wasim and Kalbe Ali

ISLAMABAD -- Sanity finally appears to have prevailed as the government and the opposition formally began talks on Monday on a four-point charter of demands to end the ongoing political crisis caused by the JUI-F sit-in.

The opposition's demands include immediate resignation of Prime Minister Imran Khan, re-elections in the country, no role of the army in the electoral process and supremacy of the Constitution.

It was for the first time since the opposition's Azadi march, spearheaded by the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F), reached Islamabad on Oct 31 that the two sides had a formal face-to-face discussion and agreed to meet again on Tuesday (today).

Soon after the talks between the government's negotiating team and the opposition's Rehbar committee were over, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman in his softest speech during the last four days asked the Azadi march participants to continue their anti-government protest with 'courage', announcing that the opposition leaders would decide when the protest should be called off.

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Addressing the protesters after having succeeded in bringing back the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) to the protest, the Maulana said the opposition leaders had promised that they would not leave the JUI-F alone in its anti-government drive.

'We will walk with you side by side every step of the way,' said the JUI-F chief, who had earlier in the day hosted a multiparty conference of the opposition parties.

Following the MPC, the PPP and PML-N sent former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf and former speaker Ayaz Sadiq, respectively, to the protest venue to represent the parties.

Government-opposition talks

The talks between the government and the opposition were held at the Embassy Road residence of Maulana Fazlur Rehman soon after the MPC and continued for nearly 90 minutes. The government team, led by Defence Minister Pervez Khattak, was received by JUI-F leader Akram Durrani. Both sides termed the talks 'positive'.

Talking to Dawn, federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood, a member of the government's negotiating team, said the opposition had for the first time presented them its demands. He said they had rejected the first demand regarding the prime minister's resignation and 'accepted' the last one with regard to the supremacy of parliament.

Mr Mahmood...