PML-N and MQM-P complete first round of talks on election, future strategy

F.P. Report

KARACHI: The PML-N has completed the initial phase of talks with the MQM-P and other parties in Sindh for a joint strategy to contest the February 8 elections and run the country’s affairs afterwards, as the PPP is set to face a strong resistance in its stronghold.

These ongoing developments are of great significance for not just the politics of Karachi and Sindh but of also entire Pakistan after the PPP – once the disputed countrywide force – has been witnessing a shrinking vote base which is now mostly, if not entirely, concentrated in rural Sindh.

It is reported that the subcommittees formed by the PML-N and the MQM-P to discuss and finalise proposals on different subjects completed their assigned tasks, including the most immediate goal – how to go for seat adjustment in the upcoming polls. In the next stage, the two parties will hold a meeting in Islamabad for giving final shape to the future line of action before the top leadership could give approval to the same.

The PML-N has given the task of coordinating the elections affairs in Sindh to Khawaja Saad Rafique and in Balochistan to Sardar Ayaz Sadiq – the seasoned and loyal party leaders from Lahore.

Nawaz Sharif – the party supremo and three-time minister who is aiming at the record fourth term in office – has already visited Balochistan, a trip which saw several prominent political personalities joining the PML-N with progress being made on seat adjustment for an electoral understanding with BAP (Balochistan Awami Party). He is expected to visit Karachi soon to formalise the arrangement between the two parties, as the PML-N wants to gain a foothold in Sindh and the MQM-P desires a comeback after internal fissures saw it losing public support.

On Sunday, the MQM-P leaders vowed that they would see how the PPP was going to form the next government in Sindh, promising to deliver a blow to the party in the February 8 elections.

Addressing a rally, MQM-P Convenor Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said they would hold the feudal class accountable and proclaimed that Karachi was to determine who would and how rule Pakistan.

He also warned that they would remove the rulers from power if necessary amendments were not introduced in the constitution – a demand regarding constitutional protection to an effective local government system and unhindered flow of funds to these institutions. (NNI)