Seat Adjustment between PPP, PML-N ‘A Likely Possibility’

Lahore: Seat adjustment with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) was a likely possibility, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Faisal Karim Kundi said on Wednesday, as the top-most leaders of the two major political parties met in Dubai.

Kundi, also the minister of state for poverty alleviation, told The Express Tribune that the shape of any future alliance with the PML-N or other political players depended purely on the outcome of the coming general elections.

Dubai had taken the centerstage in the Pakistani politics after heads of both the leading parties in the coalition government converged on the cosmopolitan oasis just ahead of Eid al-Adha, which was celebrated in Pakistan on Thursday.

They included PML-N head Nawaz Sharif, who flew in to Dubai from London, his daughter and Senior Vice President of PML-N Maryam Nawaz, besides PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and his father PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari.

The presence of the ruling coalition bigwigs in Dubai has sent rumor mills into overdrive. According to a political leader, who is familiar with the developments, two meetings had taken place between the PML-N and the PPP leadership.

“Both meetings were attended by all the four leaders,” he said. In these meetings, he added, a wide range of issues relating to the next set-up, elections and other challenges confronting Pakistan were discussed.

Many politicians and political experts speculate that the Dubai meetings were aimed at forging an electoral alliance. However, some others suggest that the rendezvous was to decide how to limit the role of establishment in politics.

Kundi, the PPP spokesperson, said that Zardari had returned to Karachi from Dubai and he would be leaving for Nawabshah for Eid, whereas Bilawal might stay in Dubai for some time and leave for the US and Japan from there.
On the Dubai talks, he said that there was no official engagement between the leadership of the two parties and though the meetings did take place there was nothing out of the ordinary about them.

He said Zardari’s frequent visits to Dubai were undertaken for his eye treatment. As these were not party-to-party contacts, he added, he was not aware of the discussion that had taken place or any subsequent decision.

When asked about the talk of seat adjustments between the two parties, he said that they could be a possibility but “that too is subjected to the decision” of the party's Central Executive Committee (CEC). “Let elections take place and see polls position,” he added.

Kundi believed that any future alliance between the two parties cannot be predicted at this stage.

The source also seconded the view that an election alliance was out of question at this stage, though the option of seat adjustment was being mulled over.

“There is this issue about when the elections should take place, that needs to be decided by them,” the source said, adding that the PPP firmly held the view that elections should either be held in October or in November, as per the guidelines of the Constitution.

However, the opinion in the PML-N appeared to be divided. One section wanted elections delayed till at least February. Asked if the PML-N was waiting for a new chief justice, the source said, that their expectations were “unrealistically high”.

About the caretaker set-up, which would take over after the dissolution of the National Assembly, the sources said that it had been decided that the PPP would propose one candidate for the post of caretaker prime minister.

Nawaz arrived in Dubai on Saturday, where he was joined by Maryam on June 25. In the wee hours of Sunday, Bilawal also travelled to Dubai followed by the arrival of Zardari.

Nawaz is scheduled to travel to Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah. – The Express Tribune

Courtesy The Express Tribune

Seat Adjustment between PPP, PML-N ‘A Likely Possibility’

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