United we stand: Tripartite alliance comes together for LG polls

Meeting of JUI-F, ANP, PPP to be held on March 17 in Mardan

PESHAWAR: The announcement to hold local government (LG) elections in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa is likely to galvanise political parties in the days to come.

On Wednesday, a tripartite alliance comprising three major opposition parties, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), Pakistan Peoples Party and Awami National Party, hinted at resurrecting their dormant coalition for the local government polls. The Supreme Court of Pakistan has directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to hold the polls in the province by end-May.

JUI-F Spokesperson Jalil Jan said a meeting of the three parties will be convened in Mardan on March 17 to discuss the upcoming elections. He added “important decisions” regarding the local government polls will be made at the meeting.

However, Jan refused to talk about the agenda of the meeting saying they could not reveal the particulars at the moment.

The tripartite alliance was suspended last year following the K-P government’s dillydallying on holding the LG polls.

The formula agreed upon by the alliance entails meetings of general secretaries of the constituent parties. However, the alliance has remained in the shadows for quite some time on account of the JUI-F and ANP’s intra-party polls and later because of the delay in LG polls.

The March 17 huddle is taking place after a hiatus of over a year. Yet, the coalition’s resurrection is likely to stir things up in the political arena, sending a possible signal to the ruling alliance and two other opposition parties, QWP and PML-N.

Interestingly, the alliance’s three parties contested Senate elections together and managed to win three seats with their strength of 27 members. The alliance was first formed in the run-up to the by-polls of August 2013 where it managed to outsmart PTI by winning the coveted NA-1 seat.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 12^th, 2015.