Choppy seas: As provincial coalition wobbles, PTI, PML-N reach out to PPP
Imran asks PTI to pull back after two QWP ministers sacked for corruption.
PTI chairman Imran Khan. PHOTO: AFP
PESHAWAR:
Both provincial and central ruling parties Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) have reached out to Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), report insiders.
This development has come on the heels of the unceremonious removal of two Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) ministers from the provincial cabinet on grounds of corruption.
The sacking, combined with Imran Khan asking the party to break away from the QWP coalition, has primed Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s political landscape for a new kind of change.
PPP insiders privy to these meetings say leaders of both parties have contacted certain PPP figures over the past few days. However, it seems no decision has come about from these meetings.
According to the PPP source, Adviser to the prime minister Amir Muqam contacted a senior PPP politico from K-P a few days ago while PTI leaders also reached out to a relative of another senior PPP leader in Islamabad.
He explained the PPP leadership is in the midst of making in-house consultations regarding these overtures but, he confirmed, no conclusions have been drawn yet.
In another day or two, the party will take a decision with regards to the meetings with the PML-N and PTI, he added.
Amir Muqam confirmed his meeting with PPP K-P President Khanzada Khan. Muqam maintained it was for personal reasons and had no political agenda.
PPP MPA Nighat Orakzai, however, denied reports about meetings between her party and the PTI. And if any such lines of communication are opened, the provincial chapter will look towards PPP’s central control, she added.
PPP has four members in the K-P Assembly at present; its role is likely to become more vital if the QWP leaves the government with its 10 MPAs. Its exit might just be round the corner after two of its ministers were sent packing on Wednesday.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 14th,2013.
Both provincial and central ruling parties Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) have reached out to Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), report insiders.
This development has come on the heels of the unceremonious removal of two Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) ministers from the provincial cabinet on grounds of corruption.
The sacking, combined with Imran Khan asking the party to break away from the QWP coalition, has primed Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s political landscape for a new kind of change.
PPP insiders privy to these meetings say leaders of both parties have contacted certain PPP figures over the past few days. However, it seems no decision has come about from these meetings.
According to the PPP source, Adviser to the prime minister Amir Muqam contacted a senior PPP politico from K-P a few days ago while PTI leaders also reached out to a relative of another senior PPP leader in Islamabad.
He explained the PPP leadership is in the midst of making in-house consultations regarding these overtures but, he confirmed, no conclusions have been drawn yet.
In another day or two, the party will take a decision with regards to the meetings with the PML-N and PTI, he added.
Amir Muqam confirmed his meeting with PPP K-P President Khanzada Khan. Muqam maintained it was for personal reasons and had no political agenda.
PPP MPA Nighat Orakzai, however, denied reports about meetings between her party and the PTI. And if any such lines of communication are opened, the provincial chapter will look towards PPP’s central control, she added.
PPP has four members in the K-P Assembly at present; its role is likely to become more vital if the QWP leaves the government with its 10 MPAs. Its exit might just be round the corner after two of its ministers were sent packing on Wednesday.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 14th,2013.