PML-N forging broad anti-PPP alliance in Sindh

Saad Rafique confirms extensive talks with ‘political friends’; says alliance with MQM-P will benefit entire country

KARACHI:

A broad-based political alliance is likely to emerge soon in Sindh, as the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and some other parties have completed their consultation to give a tough time to the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in the upcoming general elections, it emerged on Sunday.

In this regard, senior leaders of the PML-N and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) finalised their consultations regarding pre- and post-elections scenarios.

According to insiders, the most important point of the meeting was to give the PPP a tough time. They added that the PML-N had conveyed to the MQM-P that it completed its consultation with the Jamiat Ulam-e-Islam (JUI) as well as the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA).

“Leaders of all parties will soon hold a joint press conference,” said an insider, familiar with the developments. The meeting between the PML-N and the MQM-P was held in a very cordial atmosphere and there was agreement on various matters, he added.

The insiders said that both parties agreed to bringing in caretaker mayors at the end of the tenures of the local governments. The PML-N was also amenable to incorporate the MQM-P’s demands regarding including local government system in its manifesto.

Both sides also agreed to form a six-member committee, with three members from each side, to take important decisions with the approval of the leadership. Both the parties also agreed to speed up the bilateral contacts.

Earlier, PML-N leaders Khawaja Saad Rafique and Ayaz Sadiq confirmed that they had held extensive talks with several political parties of Sindh, indicating that the party was open to political arrangements before the February 8 elections.

The two senior PML-N leaders told reporters at the MQM-P headquarters that they had met with the leaders of the MQM-P; the JUI; the GDA and the PML-Functional and added that the alliance between the PML-N and the MQM-P would benefit entire Pakistan.

“Efforts will be made to create an alliance that represented the aspirations of the people in Sindh,” Rafique said. He added: “With our unity, Karachi will also undergo positive changes.” He stressed the need for an equitable distribution of resources among the provinces and beyond.

On the occasion, MQM-P convener Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said that visit by PML-N delegation would further promote the culture of tolerance in the Pakistani politics and would also strengthen the relationship between the federation and the province.

Dr Siddiqui demanded that the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award should be linked to a provincial financial award, stressing that the scope of local governments should be broadened.

“The beauty of democracy is that the functions and powers of local bodies should be written in the Constitution,” he said.

At the media talk at the Karachi Press Club, Rafique emphasised that the PML-N did not want to make someone minus from the political scene. “It is not the agenda of the PML-N to exclude anyone,” he said, adding that the party leadership was meeting their political friends.

Rafique expressed optimism that situation would become cordial after the elections. “After February 8, February 10 will also come. The atmosphere will be pleasant after the elections,” he said.

He stressed that atmosphere on the polling day should be kept cordial so that any future talks could be made possible.

When asked specifically, the PML-N leader and former railways minister, said that his party had not made any alliance as yet but added that the talks were under way with “our political friends”. He said: “Seat adjustment is more likely, as people want to contest elections on their own symbol,” he said.

He said that during the Karachi visit, they had met with JUI leadership, the PML-F chief Pir Pagara and other GDA leaders. He added that talks with the MQM-P were ongoing, while they would also meet Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan (JUP) leader Awais Noorani.

During these meetings, Rafique said, the discussion was held on constitutional reforms; local government system and provincial financial award; issues of rural Sindh and the situation in Karachi and other matters. After the Charter of Democracy, he said, the country also needed a Charter of Economy.

In response to a question about the PTI, Rafique fired a broadside against PTI chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan, saying that the quagmire in which Imran was trapped now, was actually of his own making and no-one else to blame for it.

“Imran Khan continued with his policy of use of force to settle every issue. He even would not listen to senior colleagues,” he said. “Imran Khan is not a child. We tried out best but he did not want to sit with us. He did not stand with any political force and now no-one is with him,” he continued.

“We did not ask to resign from the assembly. Heaven did not fall when he was removed from the premiership. He should have sat on opposition benches. But instead, he resorted to arson in Islamabad, indecent language against the judiciary and the army and dissolved his own [party’s] provincial governments.”

Then happened May 9 – a reference to the PTI activists attack on civil and military installations this year. Who cleaned up the Toshakhana [government’s repository of state gifts]? Does any prime minister do what he did with a [diplomatic] cipher? Imran Khan has spoiled his own case.”

Both Rafique and Sadiq said that the PML-N wanted to purge the country of the mess created by the PTI. They said that the party supremo Nawaz Sharif would visit Quetta on November 14, where more politicians would join their ranks.