Senate election

PML-N starts consultation with other parties in KP Assembly

By Nisar Mahmood

PESHAWAR: Like other political parties, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has also started consultation with other parliamentary parties in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly for the Senate election scheduled for March 3.

Having 16 members in the provincial assembly, the PML-N is confident of winning at least two seats out of the total 11 of the province.

Although the party is short of one seat as 17 members are needed for the general seat, the PML-N parliamentary leader Sardar Aurangzeb Nalotha is confident of winning not only a general seat for Pir Sabir Shah but also securing at least one seat of either technocrat or reserved for women.

He is confident that the PML-N members would resist the temptation to accept the alleged offers of money for buying votes in the Senate election.

Two members, Wajiuzzaman and Arbab Waseem, have already quit PML-N but the gap has been filled after Jamshed Mohmand and Babar Salim joined the N-League.

The PML-N is hoping that one or two members from the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) may vote for its candidate.

The PML-N has fielded Sobia Shahid for the women reserved seat and Dilawar Khan for the technocrat seat.

Amid efforts for uniting the opposition parties to develop a consensus there are also reports of a deal between the PML-N and PTI to prevent possible horse-trading.

Speaker Asad Qaiser held meetings with joint opposition in a bid to elect the senators unopposed. He is expected to hold another meeting on Friday, but the opposition demands the PTI to surrender one general seat and accommodate its ally Jamaat-e-Islami.

They are asking the PTI to leave one of the seats reserved for women or technocrats though it seems difficult.

The opposition is also divided over distribution of seats as according to numerical strength the whole opposition i.e. PML-N, JUI-F, ANP, PPP, QWP along with JI, which is nowadays not on one page with PTI, might win five seats but their number is six.

On the other hand, the parties would claim share according to their strength as PML-N and JUI-F have 16 members each while PPP has 6, ANP 5, JI 7 and QWP 10 members.

There are also rumours about PML-N, JUI-F and QWP alliance for the Senate polls.

However, political observers foresee upset in the election as some of the parties are believed to have been making secret contacts with MPAs for buying their votes. Keeping in view the alleged horse-trading in the Senate elections in the past, the possibility couldn’t be ruled out this time that some lawmakers may give in to the temptation.

In the prevailing political scenario, it seems difficult for the ruling PTI to get all its nominees elected despite having the numerical strength because of losing the loyalties of some of its dissident members.