PPP finally wakes up to need to forge alliance

LAHORE:

With its own turf in danger, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has finally woken up to the need to reach out to other parties, forming provincial committees to counter PML-N-led alliances. The party established committees for Punjab and K-P and one each for Balochistan and Sindh to fight back the danger at its home ground in Sindh.

Initially seemingly unperturbed by PML-N's advancements in Balochistan and Sindh, it sprang into action a day after the formation of an anti-PPP alliance by five parties – PML-N, GDA, MQM, ANP, and JUIF – specifically targeting the PPP in Sindh.

According to the notification, a five-member committee has been formed for Punjab and K-P which includes Syed Nayyar Hussain Bukhari, Qamar Zaman Kaira, Faisal Karim Kundi, Muhammad Ali Shah Bacha and Sajid Toori.

A two-member committee for Sindh includes Saeed Ghani and Syed Nasir Hussain Shah while a three-member committee for Baluchistan includes Changez Khan Jamali, Rozi Khan Kakar and Sabir Ali Baloch.

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These committees were constituted on orders of President PPPP Asif Ali Zardari.

‘Chink in PML-N’s armour’

As this appears to be a belated response from the PPP, background discussions with party leaders revealed their belief that the PML-N has yet to solidify an alliance with any other political party.

They said assessed all these talks to be still in nascent stages susceptible to falling apart at any moment.Citing one example, a party leader said MQM has recently refused any seat adjustment with PML-N in Karachi, laying bare a chink in the PML-N’s armour.

He said similarly other parties will pull back once they realise that PML-N was only out to exploit them. He went on to claim that the PPP has opted to sit back willingly offering an open field to PML-N.

Consequently, he emphasized that the PML-N had exhausted its options and surprises were no longer viable.

‘Zardari keep Bilawal, party on tight leash’

Further discussions revealed that the party leadership hoped that all would go away by remaining on the right side of the powers that be.

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A leader pointed out that Zardari had kept his party and even his own son Bilawal on a tight leash as he wanted no trouble in Sindh. He said the former president’s politics of appeasement was not an outcome of the party’s political weakness; “rather, it was how politics of the day works where one cannot function sans ‘their’ blessings”.

Interestingly, party spokesperson Faisal Kareem Kundi, when asked earlier this month about their plan to seek any alliance in K-P, prior to Bilawal’s tour to the province, said the party first and foremost believed in forging a strong alliance with its voters.

PPP’s senior leader Qamar Zaman Kaira, who is also a member of this committee, said that the exact rules of engagement are yet to be determined by the committee, which would hold its first meeting in two days.

He said the said meeting will decide who to engage with and when.Asked about PPP’s options now that PML-N has successfully engaged all major players on the political chess board, he said that as of now no political alliances have been forged and even those parties who have made the commitment with PML-N in one province, would be engaged in another province.

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He said that all political players, even those with PML-N, will be approached and engaged with.When asked if PPP would engage with PML-N, he said not at the level of this committee, whereas Nayyar Bukhari on the other hand reportedly said that this committee might engage with PML-N as well.

‘Unusual notification’

According to a party insider, the notable aspect of this notification is the issuance by the PPPP president, a departure from the usual practice where such notifications come from the party chairman and their office.This move, he pointed out, carries a significant message, particularly in light of a recent interview with Zardari in which he made it clear who was the boss.

The party source further claimed that the interview, aimed at mitigating the risk that aggressive politics was posing to his party, would pay off in a couple of days.Meanwhile, talking to The Express Tribune, Faissal Karem Kundi clarified that they had no intentions of forming alliances with any political party. Rather, their focus is on seat adjustments.

This approach meant seeking support from certain parties on particular seats while endorsing their own seats on others.He mentioned the possibility of seeking support from them for national seats while extending support to them for provincial seats. Additionally, he emphasised that these discussions were not solely focused on pre-election seat adjustments and alliances as they anticipated the necessity of post-election collaboration.

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To a question about an important meeting between Zardari and Governor Sindh Kamran Khan Tessori held shortly after the former’s interview, he confirmed that a meeting indeed took place between the two.However, he said he could not say if it had any potential link to MQM's newfound stance concerning PML-N in Karachi.

When questioned about the prospect of an alliance with MQM, he remarked that it appears highly unlikely.Asked about the unusual nature of Zardari issuing the notification when it traditionally is released from the chairman’s office, he clarified that both offices issue notifications and it was nothing out of the ordinary.

When asked how many notifications the president's PPPP office issued in the last few years, he said that there were two or three notifications that were issued by the president's office, though he said he didn’t remember which.

About the timing of this notification, he said such a move was the party’s prerogative.PML-N reportedly has also called a meeting of a six-member committee formed on Sindh affairs to finalise their seat adjustment plan with allied parties.