January 19, 2008	Saturday	Muharram 09, 1429

LAHORE, Jan 18: The Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) plans to awards 50 tickets for the coming election to PML-Q candidates agreeing to switch loyalty.

According to sources, the PML-N chairman has signed the tickets for PML-Q candidates likely to defect in a week or so.

The sources told Dawn that the tickets had been sent to party chief Mian Nawaz Sharif who would hand them over to the PML-Q candidates who would be joining the PML-N.

The sources said that 18 PML-Q candidates for the National Assembly and about the same number for the provincial assemblies were expected to join the PML-N. Some extra tickets have been signed to accommodate those who may like to follow suit.

However, sources in the PML-Q termed the report baseless and said that all their candidates stood firmly behind the leadership. A PML-Q candidate stood a better chance of winning because of its government’s performance and no candidate would like to change loyalty at this stage.

The PML-N sources were reluctant to name those who wanted to join the party before the election, but claimed that they included former ministers and some known leaders.

They said most of the prospective defectors were from Punjab.

The sources also claimed that some candidates had contacted the Election Commission to have ballot-papers for their constituencies printed anew with their new symbols.