PML-N inches closer to pre-poll deal with BNP
BNP and PML-N leadership discuss preliminary steps towards seat adjustments.
LAHORE:
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has decided to export its Sindh strategy for the upcoming polls – of forming alliances to bolster its vote bank – to Balochistan, discussing preliminary steps for an expected seat adjustment with the Balochistan National Party (BNP), The Express Tribune learnt on Tuesday.
PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif and BNP Acting President Dr Jehanzeb Jamaldini, along with other senior BNP leaders, met at Raiwind, where the two sides discussed the current political situation in Balochistan and possible solutions to the crisis in the province, according to PML-N’s media wing.
Talking to The Express Tribune, Jamaldini said the two sides touched on three key topics which included how to ensure free and fair elections in the province, to provide Baloch parties a free environment to campaign for their parties and finally a PML-N-BNP political alliance in the province.
The BNP leader expressed satisfaction over Chief Election Commissioner Fakhruddin G Ebrahim’s appointment, saying Ebrahim would ensure independent elections in the province. He added that Nawaz, through his political stature, would also ensure that Baloch political parties are allowed to carry out an independent election campaign in the province.
Discussing the possibility of an alliance in the upcoming polls, Jamaldini said BNP Joint Secretary Jahanzeb Baloch and former member of the National Assembly Rauf Mengal met with Nawaz on the direction of BNP President Sardar Akhtar Jan Mengal. He said both sides had agreed to continue talks on a coalition in Balochistan, adding that Mengal would hold final talks with Nawaz in the coming months as he was expected to return to Pakistan at the end of January.
Speaking about the viability of such an alliance, Jamaldini said the two parties could bag around eight seats out of a total of 14 National Assembly seats in Balochistan, adding that BNP could win 40% of the seats in the Balochistan Assembly.
Nawaz is also in negotiations with Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) president Mehmood Khan Achakzai, who has called on him at the former’s Raiwind residence numerous times. The former prime minister has also nominated BNP founder Sardar Attaullah Mengal and Mehmood Khan Achakzai for the prime minister slot in the caretaker setup in its list of eight candidates.
In Sindh, the PML-N will contest elections with the Pakistan Muslim League (Like-Minded), Pakistan Muslim League Functional and Sindhi nationalists.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 12th, 2012.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has decided to export its Sindh strategy for the upcoming polls – of forming alliances to bolster its vote bank – to Balochistan, discussing preliminary steps for an expected seat adjustment with the Balochistan National Party (BNP), The Express Tribune learnt on Tuesday.
PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif and BNP Acting President Dr Jehanzeb Jamaldini, along with other senior BNP leaders, met at Raiwind, where the two sides discussed the current political situation in Balochistan and possible solutions to the crisis in the province, according to PML-N’s media wing.
Talking to The Express Tribune, Jamaldini said the two sides touched on three key topics which included how to ensure free and fair elections in the province, to provide Baloch parties a free environment to campaign for their parties and finally a PML-N-BNP political alliance in the province.
The BNP leader expressed satisfaction over Chief Election Commissioner Fakhruddin G Ebrahim’s appointment, saying Ebrahim would ensure independent elections in the province. He added that Nawaz, through his political stature, would also ensure that Baloch political parties are allowed to carry out an independent election campaign in the province.
Discussing the possibility of an alliance in the upcoming polls, Jamaldini said BNP Joint Secretary Jahanzeb Baloch and former member of the National Assembly Rauf Mengal met with Nawaz on the direction of BNP President Sardar Akhtar Jan Mengal. He said both sides had agreed to continue talks on a coalition in Balochistan, adding that Mengal would hold final talks with Nawaz in the coming months as he was expected to return to Pakistan at the end of January.
Speaking about the viability of such an alliance, Jamaldini said the two parties could bag around eight seats out of a total of 14 National Assembly seats in Balochistan, adding that BNP could win 40% of the seats in the Balochistan Assembly.
Nawaz is also in negotiations with Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) president Mehmood Khan Achakzai, who has called on him at the former’s Raiwind residence numerous times. The former prime minister has also nominated BNP founder Sardar Attaullah Mengal and Mehmood Khan Achakzai for the prime minister slot in the caretaker setup in its list of eight candidates.
In Sindh, the PML-N will contest elections with the Pakistan Muslim League (Like-Minded), Pakistan Muslim League Functional and Sindhi nationalists.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 12th, 2012.