ISLAMABAD-The second round of talks between negotiating teams of the ruling coalition and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party to reach a consensus on holding elections was held at Parliament House on Friday.
The ruling coalition team included Ishaq Dar, Khawaja Saad Rafique, Azam Nazeer Tarar, Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani and Syed Naveed Qamar while Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Chaudhry Fawad Hussain and Barrister Ali Zafar represented the PTI.                                    
Talking to newsmen after the talks, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar flanked by other members of government's negotiating team said progress has been made in the talks. He said both sides have floated their proposals which will be discussed with the party leaderships and the negotiating teams will then meet again on Tuesday. 
The ruling coalition in the centre and the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Friday exchanged proposals in the second round of talks to end the ongoing political impasse on holding of general elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The negotiation teams of both sides agreed to resume the dialogue next week in an attempt to develop a consensus on holding of general elections to the national and provincial assemblies on the same date. 
Both sides held that the next round of talks to be held on May 2 (Tuesday) would be crucial and final.
The development came a day after three-member PTI teams opened much awaited-talks with the representatives of the coalition government to end the ongoing political crisis that persisted more than a year since then government of prime minister Imran Khan was ousted through a parliamentary vote of no confidence.
“We have made progress as both sides have exchanged their proposals,” said Finance Minister Ishaq Dar after the meeting that met at the Parliament House. He dispelled the impression that there was any deadlock among the negotiators. Dar, a close aide to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif, said that both negotiation teams would put proposals of the other side before their respective leadership. He added that both PTI and government representatives would meet again on Tuesday at 11:00am at the Parliament House.
Senior PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry in his media interaction said that his party has conveyed its proposals to the government team. He hoped that the deadlock would be resolved by Tuesday when both sides would resume talks. He, however, expressed his reservations over the arrest of PTI supporters by the government saying that this action can derail the whole process. He underlined that government ministers had maintained that they had no involvement in these arrests. “Then who is doing this?” he questioned.
The sources privy to the development informed that PTI has proposed to the government representatives that the national and the two remaining provincial assemblies should be dissolved before June to hold simultaneous elections across the country. PTI is of the view that the National Assembly and provincial assemblies of Sindh and Balochistan should be dissolved before the budget due in June to hold polls on the same date.
The party of former prime minister Imran Khan emphasises that the incumbent government will give a political budget that will create problems for the upcoming setup. It says that the next caretaker government should present a provisional budget to be approved by the next parliament.
On the other side, the ruling PML-N wants that elections of all assemblies should be held in October on the same date after the present ruling coalition completes its term that will expire in August.
Talking to reporters after the meeting, PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi said their proposals were within the limits of the Constitution. He said that the PTI negotiation team would leave for Lahore on the weekend to take party chairman Khan into confidence on the progress on talks. He also condemned the arrests of PTI workers outside the Islamabad High Court (IHC) at the time of appearance of party chief in the court. He said that Tuesday's talks started on this issue.

Ahead of the second round of talks, ex-premier Khan during an informal conversation with reporters at IHC said that he had advised the PTI team to initiate talks with the government only if the ruling alliance was prepared to immediately dissolve the assemblies and hold elections.

“I have told both Chaudhry and Qureshi there was no need to proceed if the government insists on holding polls in September or October,” he added.

Khan added that the ball is in the government’s court and if they want to hold elections on the same date, then they should do it but he urged the government to pay attention to the PTI’s demand for dissolving the National Assembly.
The PTI Chief made it clear that his party is not involved in any attempts to sabotage the talks saying that there was no such statement issued from the party.
He also said that his rival parties want to break the Constitution but the PTI stands by it. He added that they are standing by rule of law while their opponents are committing contempt of court. 
He remarked that if elections are not held on May 14, then it would be a breach of the Constitution and if that were to happen then whoever is powerful will have his way.
He also criticised the former army chief General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa for allegedly imposing a band of thieves on the country. Speaking about Hamid Mir’s statement about Gen Bajwa and Kashmir issue, Khan said that he knew more things than that but this is a national security issue and he does not want any international news to be made that would harm the country’s interests.