Coalition building: Pervaiz Elahi seeks to woo Muslim Conference

Ruling PPP wants coalition with MC, Attique may get AJK presidency.

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan Muslim League Quaid (PML-Q) leader continued his role as the government’s emissary on Saturday, meeting with Azad Jammu Kashmir Prime Minister Sardar Attique Ahmad Khan, the leader of the Muslim Conference, to discuss the possibility of a political alliance in the region.

The ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) won the elections in AJK and can form a government in the region without any coalition allies, but party leaders, in particular Kashmir Affairs Minister Manzoor Wattoo, have been hinting at the possibility of a political alliance between the PPP-led coalition – which includes the PML-Q – and the Muslim Conference, which lost the election, but remains a significant political force in AJK.

The PPP and the Muslim Conference have traditionally been rivals in the AJK Legislative Assembly, but the Muslim Conference was irked by the direct entry into AJK politics by the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N), which had historically supported the Muslim Conference in AJK elections.

The Muslim Conference’s electoral strategy for the June 26 elections involved running several strong candidates in many constituencies, which split away many votes from the PML-N candidate, allowing the PPP to win in several key districts.

Soon after the elections, there were reports of a proposal that Sardar Attique might be made the next president of Azad Jammu Kashmir as part of a political deal between the victorious PPP and the Muslim Conference. There has been no confirmation of those reports to date.

Meanwhile Attique and Elahi reportedly also discussed much of the violence that took place during the election as well as the allegations of rigging. The PML-N and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) have both challenged the legitimacy of the polls based on the allegations of severe rigging in the AJK polls.

Elections in Lahore were postponed on the day due to the violent clashes between PPP and PML-N activists. 

Published in The Express Tribune, July 3^rd, 2011.