By-polls: PML-N, PPP to support each other

ISLAMABAD:

Two former archrivals — the PML-N and the PPP — have announced they will contest the upcoming by-elections together. The parties will also reach out to other parties in the ruling coalition for broader coordination.

This announcement was made on Saturday after a high-level PML-N delegation comprising federal ministers Hanif Abbasi and Tariq Fazal Chaudhry met with a senior PPP delegation at the residence of PPP leader Raja Pervez Ashraf in Islamabad.

The meeting focused on strategy for by-elections to be held at various constituencies primarily due to de-seating of a number of PTI lawmakers in view of their conviction in May 9 rioting cases. Discussions included devising a joint plan for the by-elections, said sources.

Speaking to the media later, Ashraf said the PML-N will support the PPP in constituencies where the PPP candidate stood second in the general elections of February 2024. "Similarly, the PPP will extend its support in constituencies where the PML-N candidate was second in the general elections."

He said this formula had been finalized in light of directions from the leadership of both parties.

Speaking on the occasion, Hanif Abbasi said the two parties are allies in the Senate, the National Assembly, and provincial assemblies. "We will jointly contest the by-elections and secure success together," he added.

Some political analysts believe that in order for the PPP to reclaim its territory in Punjab, it will have to attract the anti-PML-N voters through actual confrontation with Sharif's party, which, ironically, has been now the PPP's partner since the ouster of Imran Khan in April 2022.

The PPP has been propping up the PML-N led coalition government formed after February 8, 2024 general elections without becoming a part of it while it was part of the coalition government formed after the collapse of the PTI government in the wake of a vote of no-confidence.

After the general elections, in which no single party could achieve a simple majority, the PPP and the PML-N agreed on a power sharing formula with the former going for constitutional positions of the president, governor of two provinces and the Senate chairmanship.