Fida Hussnain Lahore
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) agreed for seat adjustment and close collaboration in Punjab ahead of the general elections.
The both sides reached the agreement after long discussions of the negotiating committees of both the parties held in Model Town in Lahore. The sources said that the PML-N and the JUI-F would collaborate in election campaigns and political matters concerning the polls.
“The both parties will sit together once the lists of the electoral candidates are finalized,” said Hafiz Nasir Ahmed Ahrar, the JUI-F leader after the meeting with the PML-N concluded.
Zakariya Shah, Rao Abdul Qayyum, and Khawaja Mudasir Mahmood were from the JUI-F while former federal ministers Chaudhry Ahsan Iqbal and Rana Sanaullah were representing the PML-N. The development took place keeping in view the prevailing political situation in the country. According to the sources, the agreement regarding seat adjustment and collaboration in the matters related to the upcoming elections reached during the meeting of JUI-F Chief Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman and PML-N Supremo Nawaz Sharif in their meeting at PML-N secretariat in Model Town on December 4.
The both leaders had discussed the possibility of potential alliance. They had also discussed preparations and strategies for campaigning for the general elections. Nawaz Sharif and Maulana Fazlur Rehman, according to the sources, had also discussed the option of forming committees to oversee election-related issues in Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa also came under discussion.
However, the matter of committees in other provinces including Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is yet to be decided, said the sources. Before the committees, the sources said that Nawaz Sharif is expected to visit Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa within the ongoing month.
Earlier, Nawaz Sharif visited Quetta and held meetings with the local leaders, and it was his first visit to any other province after he arrived in Lahore on Oct 21 from four-year self-imposed exile in London.
