ISLAMABAD: PPP co-chairman and former president Asif Ali Zardari held a meeting with his party’s members in the Punjab Assembly here on Tuesday and discussed with them the party’s strategy for the coming Senate elections.

It was Mr Zardari’s second meeting with PPP’s MPAs from Punjab in three days.

Despite having only eight members in the Punjab Assembly, the PPP has fielded Nadeem Afzal Chan as its candidate on a general Senate seat from the province.

Also read: All eyes on Zardari as Senate elections loom

According to spokesman for the PPP co-chairman Senator Farhatullah Babar, six MPAs and president of PPP Punjab Mian Manzoor Ahmed Wattoo called on Mr Zardari who has been staying in Islamabad since last week.

Besides members from Punjab, Mr Zardari also met the president of the party’s KP chapter, Khanzada Khan, and discussed with him situation in the province with reference to the Senate elections.

Meanwhile, Haji Adeel of Awami National Party (ANP), who is among those 52 senators retiring on March 11, also called on Mr Zardari at his F-8 residence.

ANP has only five MPAs in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly and apparently has no chance to win a Senate seat. However, since the party members sit on opposition benches in the assembly with the PPP, JUI-F, Qaumi Watan Party of Aftab Sherpao and the PML-N, it is expecting to get its share, if the parties manage to reach some kind of understanding,

Sources in the PPP told Dawn that since the party had only eight MPAs, it had no chance of winning a Senate seat from Punjab. However, they said, with the support of eight PML-Q MPAs, the party was now mainly depending upon the “disgruntled” MPAs of the ruling PML-N from south Punjab.

“Yes, we expect that a large number of disgruntled and angry PML-N MPAs will vote for Nadeem Afzal Chan, who enjoys a good political repute as well,” said a PPP member, who had been regularly attending meetings at the Zardari House in connection with the Senate elections.

Published in Dawn March 4th , 2015

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