A friend in need: PTI, JI to stand together for LG polls

Move comes following PPP, JUI-F and ANP union in Peshawar.

PESHAWAR: Coalition partners in the provincial government, the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) have agreed to an electoral alliance for local government (LG) polls.

A statement by the JI said the decision was made in a meeting which took place at the residence of PTI Peshawar President Yasin Khan Khalil. The statement quoted both parties’ leaders saying they had agreed to field joint candidates, however, details will be chalked out in a follow-up meeting in the first week of January.

Khalil said other parties are open to join the alliance, while JI Peshawar chief Baharullah Khan said the two coalition partners will sweep LG elections in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Baharullah said if victorious, they will transform Peshawar into a historic city like Istanbul.

The meeting also discussed ways to minimise differences between workers of both parties, the statement read. The JI-PTI alliance comes after a similar agreement was reached between the opposition Pakistan Peoples Party, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl and Awami National Party.

The three parties announced recently they will jointly contest the LG polls from Peshawar and field joint candidates.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 27^th, 2013.