Nawaz advised against JI, JUI-F alliances in Punjab, Balochistan – The Express Tribune
LAHORE: Senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders have warned their party chief Nawaz Sharif against forming an alliance with Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) in Punjab and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) in Balochistan and Hazara division.
In stark contrast, however, they endorsed a seat adjustment pact reached with other political parties in Sindh, sources privy to the development told The Express Tribune.
Nawaz, his younger brother Shahbaz Sharif and other senior leaders of the PML-N central parliamentary board held a meeting on Monday in Lahore, during which they discussed reports of the party’s expected alliance with other political parties.
According to sources, during the meeting a majority of the senior leadership opposed the PML-N’s alliance with JI in Punjab, saying the latter was demanding seats which the former had won in the 2008 general election and were all from urban areas. Upon this, Nawaz asked whether the JI had provided any other options, but was told that the party was refusing to budge from its stance.
The senior leaders went on to suggest that the party chief negotiate with the JI for seat adjustment in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
The meeting also discussed a possible alliance and seat adjustment between PML-N and JUI-F. Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s party wants to focus on getting seats through the alliance from Balochistan and the Hazara division of K-P. However, senior leaders told Nawaz that the PML-N had already issued tickets for Balochistan for the upcoming polls.
They said that the party could not afford to annoy their applicants in Balochistan for the sake of meeting JUI-F’s demands. They further said that the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) is also an ally of the PML-N in Balochistan, and advised Nawaz to give preference to PkMAP over JUI-F.
Furthermore, the senior leadership also rejected the JUI-F’s offer of seat adjustment with the PML-N in Hazara division.
Nawaz directed negotiators to talk to JUI-F over seat adjustment in other areas of K-P apart from the Hazara division.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 9th, 2013.