PHOTO: FILE
Contrary to their initial statements, PML-N leaders now imply the talks are progressing in the right direction. PML-N provincial General Secretary Rehmat Salam Khattak said talks were advancing and that the JUI-F had backed off from some its weighty demands.
“Still, there are some issues over certain constituencies which both parties have to overcome,” he said, adding adjustment of seats between both parties was now a “done deal.”
He maintained the talks progressed only after JUI-F withdrew some of its demands, clarifying that it would not have been possible otherwise.
Khattak also said the cooperation will not extend to constituencies where both parties have strong candidates, who will contest against each other in such a case. “Candidates of both parties can also compete wherever both parties are in a strong position.”
He said talks will resume after the return of PML-N leaders, who were heading to Lahore for a meeting with the party’s chief Nawaz Sharif on Friday.
Negotiations for seat adjustments between the two political parties began last Sunday, when the provincial leadership of JUI-F and PML-N first met to pore over the initial agreement between Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Nawaz Sharif.
The six-member committee constituted to deliberate on the details of this electoral cooperation comprises Rehman Salam Khattak, Farid Toofan and Khwaja Mohammad Khan Hoti from PML-N and Maulana Attaur Rehman, Maulana Gul Naseeb Khan and Shamsur Rehman Shamsi from JUI-F. The committee has met four times since Sunday, while further rounds of talks are likely in the coming days.
JUI-F negotiators could not be contacted for comment.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 22nd, 2013.
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