Islamabad:
Two former archirival, the PML-N and the PPP, have announced that they will play the next partial elections together. The parties will also communicate with other parts in the ruling coalition for broader coordination.
This announcement was made on Saturday after a high-level PML-N delegation composed of the federal ministers of Hanif Abbasi and Tariq Fazal Chaudhry met with a senior PPP delegation in the residence of the PPP leader Raja Pervez Ashraf in Islamabad.
The meeting focused on the strategy for the partial elections that will be held in several electoral districts mainly due to the elimination of several PTI legislators in view of their conviction in cases of disturbances on May 9. The discussions included designing a joint plan for partial elections, fountains said.
In statements to the media later, Ashraf said that the PML-N will support the PPP in the constituencies where the PPP candidate was second in the general elections of February 2024. “In the same way, the PPP will expand its support in the constituencies where the PML-N candidate was second in the general elections.”
He said that this formula had ended in the light of the addresses since the leadership of both parties.
Speaking on the occasion, Hanif Abbasi said the two parties are allies in the Senate, the National Assembly and the provincial assemblies. “We will compute the partial elections together and ensure success,” he added.
Some political analysts believe that for the PPP to claim its territory in Punjab, it will have to attract anti-PML-N voters through the real confrontation with the Sharif party, which, ironically, has been the PPP partner since the expulsion of Imran Khan in April 2022.
The PPP has been supporting the coalition government led by PML-N formed after February 8, 2024 general elections without being part of it, while it was part of the coalition government formed after the collapse of the PTI government following a vote of non-confidence.
After the general elections, in which no party could achieve a simple majority, the PPP and the PML-N agreed a formula to share power with the first for constitutional positions of the president, governor of two provinces and the presidency of the Senate.
