ISLAMABAD - In a surprising move, the federal government Wednesday allowed the opposition’s “Azadi March” protest “as long as it would take place within the ambit of law and Constitution.”

The decision was made in a meeting of Prime Minister Imran Khan with the government’s seven-member negotiations team headed by Defence Minister Pervez Khattak.

“The negotiating team constituted by the government met the Prime Minister today,” said a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office soon after the meeting.

“It was decided that the government, with its firm belief in upholding democratic ideals, would 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 and Islamabad High Court,” the brief statement added.

The decision is astonishing for many political analysts as earlier the government had been opposing the anti-government protest march since Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman announced that they would hold the “Azadi March” to send the government packing. The protest march is scheduled to start from October 27 and would enter Islamabad on October 31.

On the other hand, the JUI-F chief since Tuesday has toned down his rhetoric of long march and staging a sit-in in Islamabad — a reason that many independent observers believe that some backdoor channels have worked to convince Maulana not to hold a sit-in and he would be given a face-saving by allowing a gathering in the capital.

In his meeting with a group of foreign media journalists, Maulana for the first time categorically said that opposition was neither staging a sit-in nor would lock down the cities and their movement would remain peaceful. He further said their protest movement would continue and they would keep changing their strategy to achieve the goal.

Meanwhile, the government’s negotiations team separately held a consultative meeting at the Speaker House.

Asad Umar, senior PTI leader and MNA, told The Nation after the meeting that the committee had taken a principled position that opposition’s demand of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s resignation was out of question and could not be discussed. He said committee had not scheduled any meeting with the opposition till yet. JUI-F after an important meeting of its central body scheduled today (Thursday) might take the decision to talk with the government committee. “Our doors are open and they can talk to us,” he said

The negotiation committee on Tuesday had decided that its members in individual capacity would hold separate meetings with leaders of opposition parties, including JUI-F, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shahbaz Sharif and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to convince them to postpone the protest. Umar said that these would be informal contacts and no formal meeting was scheduled yet between the government and opposition.

Meanwhile, JUI-F leader Akram Durrani, the convener of the opposition’s Rahbar Committee in his media interaction said that the committee would negotiate with the government and no leader of opposition would meet with the government members individually.

On October 16, a high level meeting of ruling party under the chair of Prime Minister Imran Khan had constituted the seven-member committee to engage the JUI-F and other opposition parties ahead of their planned march.

The JUI-F chief on last Saturday had given a go-ahead to his party leader Senator Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri to meet with the Chairman Senate Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani who as a member of the negotiating committee had contacted him and sought a meeting.

The next day, meeting was postponed following PPP objected to individual meeting without taking it on board and JUI-F chief that only the Rahbar Committee would decide on talks with the government.