KHYBER: A jirga consisting of around 25 elders from tribal districts has failed to make an impact while negotiating a “deal” between the federal government and a belligerent Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) to prevent any hostile move by either side ahead of the latter’s Oct 4 protest march on Islamabad.
Sources among jirga members told Dawn that the idea to negotiate a deal was conceived by former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor Engineer Shaukatullah Khan and a tribal elder from North Waziristan, Malik Khan Mar Jan, after the PTI announced its Sept 27 Islamabad protest march.
They said that after initial contacts with different tribal elders of the seven merged tribal districts, they requested a meeting with Governor Faisal Karim Kundi in Peshawar on Sept 29.
Malik Abdur Razzaq Afridi, a Zakhakhel elder from Khyber said that they also met the chief minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Sohail Afridi and also some of his senior party and cabinet members in Peshawar after the Governor gave an assurance about his possible help to arrange further meetings with responsible ‘signatories’ in Islamabad.
He said that the meeting with the KP chief minister too was a positive one as he expressed his and his party’s willingness to resolve all the thorny issues with the federal government through negotiations with priority to the tribal jirga which comprised the most experienced of the tribal elders who were well versed in resolving ‘tough’ issues in accordance with the time tested tribal customs and traditions.
Sources among the jirga said that a 10-member selected group of the jirga went to Islamabad on Oct 1 and held talks with Safron minister Amir Maqam after the jirga received a nod from the KP Governor who was instrumental in conveying the message of ‘goodwill’ from jirga to the federal government.
A stalemate however emerged after a series of hectic exchange of messages between the federal government and the PTI bigwigs in Islamabad with the jirga members waiting in vain for any further contact with either side, the federal government or the PTI.
The 10-member group of the jirga stayed put in the federal capital till late Friday with some of its members getting frustrated with the ‘non-cooperative’ attitude of both sides.
“We are fast losing hope of any productive role our jirga could play as neither side is willing to budge from their respective position while also severing any contact with us,” an elder from among the 10-member delegation told Dawn.
He said the PTI leadership was justified in their demand of honouring the Supreme Court rulings about medical treatment of their party leader and legitimate meetings with family members and lawyers.
He said that the PTI could only be desisted from their protest march on Islamabad if the federal government showed some leniency and honoured the country’s highest court rulings.
Another jirga member said that they would be in a position to give their suggestions for a possible ‘patch-up’ only when both sides show some flexibility while also unconditionally authorising the jirga to play a mediating role.
“We are not very optimistic that either the PTI or the federal government will give us a chance to mediate between them as they themselves are exchanging messages through their own selected teams. We might return to Peshawar on Saturday (today),” he said.
Published in Dawn, October 3rd, 2026
