ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Prime Minister’s Adviser on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah urged Pakistan’s “Big Five” powerbrokers to meet and reset PTI government talks, arguing that lower-level contacts cannot break the deadlock, Jan. 2, 2026.
He framed the opening move as a confidence-building step: a pause in the online attacks he alleges are aimed at state institutions and their leadership. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) officials, meanwhile, have reiterated that they will not negotiate with the federal government on instructions from the incarcerated party founder.
PTI government talks hinge on a social-media truce
In interviews carried by Geo News and Aaj English, Sanaullah said negotiations cannot move forward if “abusive language and hostility” keep escalating online. He called for shutting down social media accounts he said are running campaigns against state institutions, and he challenged PTI leaders to publicly distance the party from those accounts, saying they cannot evade responsibility by claiming they have no control over them. Sanaullah also suggested political messaging be directed at rival parties and politicians instead, and he argued that de-escalation could create space for PTI government talks to advance.
Sanaullah urged PTI to drop its planned Feb. 8 “wheel-jam” strike, arguing it would harden positions and deepen the impasse when dialogue remains possible. He warned that another escalation would further shrink the room for PTI government talks.
‘Big Five’ idea: four named, one left unsaid
According to Dawn, Sanaullah named Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif as two of the five, added President Asif Ali Zardari as the third and jailed PTI founder Imran Khan as the fourth, then declined to identify the fifth figure, saying only that “everyone knows” who it is. Sanaullah said informal contacts between him and PTI’s chief whip in the National Assembly, Malik Amir Dogar, would continue, but he argued the stalemate will not break until confidence is rebuilt among the top figures.
On the same program, Dogar urged the government to facilitate meetings between senior opposition figures — including Mahmood Khan Achakzai and Allama Raja Nasir Abbas — and Imran Khan, arguing that access could help map a way out of the standoff.
In a separate interview highlighted by Dunya News, Sanaullah said some PTI leaders favor engagement, but he portrayed the party’s mixed signals as a recurring obstacle to PTI government talks.
Why the talks keep stalling
The “Big Five” pitch echoes earlier, stop-start efforts. In December 2024, Sanaullah publicly invited PTI to formalize contacts after the party floated a talks committee, urging it to approach the government through parliament rather than relying on TV statements, as reported by Dawn in December 2024. As The Express Tribune reported, government and PTI figures publicly sparred over whether a formal channel existed and what preconditions should come first, even as intermediaries signaled interest in lowering the temperature.
By December 2025, Sanaullah said the prime minister’s offer still stood but that prospects had dimmed after remarks he attributed to Imran Khan. Geo News reported that the earlier dialogue featured meetings on Dec. 27, 2024, Jan. 2, 2025, and Jan. 16, 2025, before the process hit a snag, even as Sanaullah argued political disputes can only be settled through engagement.
For now, Sanaullah’s “Big Five” formula remains an appeal rather than a calendar item. Whether PTI government talks move beyond television studios may come down to two measurable signals: a sustained cooling-off online and a mutually acceptable route for top-level engagement before Feb. 8 resets the confrontation again.
