ISLAMABAD: The coalition government and opposition PTI on Friday decided to hold what one minister called the “almost final round” of parleys on May 2 (Tuesday).

Representatives of the government and opposition exchanged proposals during the second round of talks held in the Committee Room No 3 at the Parliament House.

Though the development has generated some optimism, the dialogue process still appears to be fraught with the possibility of failure as important figures from both sides in their remarks stuck to their guns and questioned the utility of negotiations if one side does not agree with the other’s suggestion.

Informed sources told Dawn that PTI insisted on a date for dissolution of the National Assembly prior to the presentation of budget to “reduce political tension”.

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, Commerce Minister Syed Naveed Qamar, PPP Senator Yousaf Raza Gilani and Kishwar Zehra of MQM-P took part in the negotiations from the government side, while PTI was represented by party Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry and Senator Barrister Ali Zafar.

While talking to the media, Mr Dar denied any deadlock in the parleys and said the two sides had tabled their proposals, which would be put before the government and PTI leadership.

“Some progress has been made today,” he said, adding that an “almost final round” would be held next week.

When asked to share details of proposals, he said: “We are morally bound, we cannot share the proposals of either side.”

Confirming that progress has been made, Mr Qureshi told journalists that negotiations were held in a “pleasant environment” and with the intention to “find a way forward while staying within the ambit of the Constitution”.

“In my view, we made appropriate progress in this regard,” he added. Mr Qureshi confirmed that both sides had tabled their proposals and said that PTI’s suggestions are “reasonable, implementable and within the constitutional bounds”.

“We have taken a break so that we may talk to our leadership and they discuss it with their coalition partners. We have agreed to meet again on Tuesday at 11am,” he said.