June 29, 2005	Wednesday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 21, 1426

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window).

ISLAMABAD, June 28: The People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the two major component parties of the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD), are still unclear and seemed confused on the issue of seat adjustment for the forthcoming local government elections, reveal interviews with leaders of the two parties.

ARD Secretary-General Iqbal Zafar Jhagra after an Alliance meeting on Monday had announced that the ARD component parties had agreed to make seat adjustments within themselves and with other opposition groups including the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA).

However, when contacted separately, the office-bearers of the PML-N and the PPP gave contradictory statements on the issue of seat adjustments.

Mr Jhagra, who is also the PML-N Secretary-General, claimed that it had been decided in the ARD meeting that his party and the PPP would contest the local government elections “on the ARD platform and would not field candidates against each other.” On the other hand, PPP Sindh General Secretary Nafees Siddiqui claimed that his party would “not contest the election on the ARD platform.”

“No such decision has been made,” Mr Siddiqui, who represented his party in the ARD meeting, said. “The PML-N leaders should not make such statements which can cause embarrassment to them in future,” he added.

Mr Siddiqui, however, said it was correct that the PPP and the PML-N leadership had agreed to cooperate with each other in the local government elections. He said it was also true that the two parties had decided to give preference to the ARD while finalizing the candidates, but his party could not give a guarantee that there would be no direct contest between the PPP and the PML-N in any local government constituency.

On the other hand, Mr Jhagra claimed that it had been agreed in the ARD meeting that the PPP and the PML-N would not field candidates against each other.

“Yes, when we say that we will contest the polls on ARD platform, it means there will be no direct contest between the alliance component parties,” Mr Jhagra said.

Similarly, there are differences between the PPP and the PML-N on the issue of having seat adjustment with the Muttahida Majlis- i-Amal (MMA).

Ruling out the possibility of seat adjustment with the ruling PML or any of its coalition partners, Mr Jhagra categorically stated that seat adjustment could be made with the MMA. Mr Siddiqui gave a diplomatic answer to the question and hinted that the PPP would not make seat adjustment with the MMA at any level in the LG polls. “We still have reservations with the MMA on various issues but we would see whether cooperation can be extended to the MMA or not,” he said, adding that it had been left to the party’s divisional and local leadership to make seat adjustments with any group or party where they felt necessary.

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)