Yes, Senator: PTI confident about prospects in Upper House polls

Treasury, opposition parties willing to consider seat adjustments, understandings.

PESHAWAR:

After Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) formal announcement of participation in Senate polls from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), the party is remarkably confident about its standing in the race.

On Friday, Imran Khan said the party would contest the elections from only this province, and will not take it lightly if any of the PTI candidates were involved in buying a seat in the upper house. Insiders had said while the chief minister was all for the PTI’s participation, Azam Khan Swati and a few others were less than keen.

“We know how many seats we are going to win in the polls and are very clear about that,” PTI K-P General Secretary Khalid Masood told The Express Tribune. However, Masood was in favour of an understanding if the opposition and ruling alliance manage to reach one. He said such a move would make the elections an easy process.

However, he said, seat adjustment was not the ruling party’s problem, but rather the opposition’s.

“We already know our potential and any understanding will be good for the opposition parties.” Masood said he was unaware of any meeting between the K-P chief minister and opposition parties to discuss possible seat adjustment. “I don’t know of any such contact,” he said.

Polls for 12 Senate seats from the province will take place next month. PTI is expected to win at least five of those, with 56 members in the assembly.

Mutual benefits

Overall, political parties from the treasury and opposition benches of K-P Assembly seem willing to come to an understanding for the upcoming Senate elections.

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), which is the largest opposition party, also expressed its willingness to reach an understanding. JUI-F Spokesperson Haji Abdul Jalil Jan said his party was in favour of an agreement over the Senate polls. “We will fully support such an initiative that will make all political parties happy,” he said. However, he added PTI will chalk out its future course of action for the Upper House elections in the party’s provincial general council meeting on Monday.

PPP’s stance

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) lawmaker Nighat Orakzai said opposition parties were united on this issue and eager to reach an agreement.

Seemingly advocating for one Senate berth for each party, she said the PPP was willing to sacrifice to accommodate all.

She said both the government and opposition parties were in contact with each other, however, she was unsure if an agreement could be reached with the PTI. Orakzai stated both coalition partners of the ruling party, Awami Jamhori Ittehad Pakistan (AJIP) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), were demanding a seat each from the government and it was unlikely the PTI would accommodate both the opposition and treasury parties.

“I do not think any broad-based understanding will emerge,” she said. Nighat added the PPP will plan its strategy in a meeting in Karachi on Monday (today) with the Party Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari in the chair.

Horse-trading

Orakzai urged the PTI-led government to stop ‘horse-trading’.

Such practices are nothing new in Senate elections. Some of the more notable instances included that of a former K-P chief minister, the late Mir Afzal Khan, who contested Senate polls in 1989 and emerged victorious, allegedly by making investments.

In 1991, there was record investment made by several influential and wealthy candidates before senate elections. Among them Commander (retd) Khalilur Rahman, an independent candidate, was prominent. His candidature was proposed and seconded by Akram Khan Durrani and Maulana Asmatullah, the only two of JUI-F members in the K-P Assembly at the time.

K-P only

The PTI will only field candidates for Senate seats from K-P as their lawmakers resigned from the other provinces in a show of protest against alleged election rigging. However, analysts observed that despite allegations of poll rigging in K-P as well, the ruling party decided its MPAs would not resign from their seats in the province.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 2rd, 2015.